To Take a Chance: Reading the Deathly Hallows
by random-fruitcake04
Summary: AU. In a different reality where the Potters survived and Voldemort was resurrected at a much earlier time, Harry and his two best friends had gotten hold of an object that might give them and the Order the answers to win their war. AU!Harry different from Canon!Harry. Might rate it up to T later. Please R&R. Chapter eight updated!
1. Prologue

The war had gotten worse.

Many lives were taken each day, Muggle or magical, and terror continued to reign over everyone. A number of families fled from their homes and went into hiding, some decided to leave the country to go somewhere else safe. No one could trust anyone or each other anymore, thinking one of them was the enemy. Death Eaters attacked left and right, destroying towns and homes in their path, killing anyone who dared oppose them and those who they were against: blood traitors, Muggle-borns and Muggles themselves. Their leader, Voldemort, was hidden in the shadows, creating more uncertainty and confusion throughout magical England.

An organisation not known by many was the only one who dared opposed Voldemort and his followers, coming forth to stop them and help those who were in need. The numbers were less compared to the other side, but it did not them from facing them with all their might. The organisation was called the Order of the Phoenix, led by the Headmaster of Hogwarts Albus Dumbledore. Dumbledore, was known to many, to be the only one whom Voldemort ever feared; he was capable of assessing what would the Dark Lord's next move be, thus making most of the opposition side's plans failing so far. But even the old wizard knew there would be a time before Voldemort and his followers would win if they did not do anything fast to defeat them all.

There was one boy who was nearing adulthood, standing in one hidden room inside Hogwarts. He was the only one who survived the Killing curse from Voldemort at the age of one. He had jet black messy hair, bright green eyes behind his round spectacles and on his forehead was a scar shaped like lightning.

His name was Harry Potter and he was the Boy-Who-Lived.

He was currently with his two best friends; one was a tall boy with flaming red hair, blue eyes, long nose, and freckles. The other one was a girl who had bushy brown hair, brown eyes and a look as if she knew a lot of things.

"This is getting frustrating," muttered Harry angrily. "Why can't they still let us join the Order?" He and the other two were inside the Room of Requirement, one of the secrets of Hogwarts.

"You know what they're going to say," said the redhead. "We're too young, we're of age -"

"And they are perfectly right," said the girl with bushy hair, "We're not old enough to join the Order, it's best if we respect their decision -"

"Hermione," said Harry exasperatedly, "Can you hear youself? Sure, both Ron and I aren't seventeen years old yet but you are," he gestured himself and the redhead, "But they can't deny we have the experience – we've already faced Death Eaters countless of times when they attacked Hogsmeade three times!"

"He has a point there," commented Ron. "Wait, why haven't you joined the Order? You're already of age Hermione!"

"Well, I can join," nodded Hermione, "But I know they still wouldn't let me because I'm still attending school."

Harry said sarcastically, "That's wonderful to hear. So after we finished our education, then we can join the Order? By the time we're out of Hogwarts, Voldemort -" both Ron and Hermione flinched, "might have won the war!"

"But just because we're joining doesn't mean our side will win the war," said Hermione while frowning. "It'll be hard to assess who has the upper hand. The Order is doing all they can to stop You-Know-Who's plans, and we have to admit, they managed to stop most of them -"

"- but many still died," finished Harry grimly. "If they will let us join -"

"Your parents won't let you, Harry -"

Harry growled at the mention of them. "I don't want to talk about them, Hermione." Lily and James Potter managed to survive the attack at Godric's Hollow and realising that Voldemort was gone because of Harry, all of them went into hiding with the help of Sirius Black, the godfather of Harry, and Albus Dumbledore (who found out about the switch after the Potters told him). For ten years, they evaded capture from the Death Eaters by their friends' protective wards. But after Harry's first year at Hogwarts, rumours began to stir that Voldemort had somehow come back. The Order was reformed and began fighting against the other side.

Harry was given training by Sirius, his godfather, and Remus Lupin, one of his father's friends, but as he grew older, he wanted to join the cause. However, his parents wouldn't let him. Time and again he would convince them but their decision stayed the same.

"They're just worried for you -" reasoned Hermione but Harry cut across her.

"I know they are," said Harry, trying to keep his temper down. "But they can't protect me forever. Sooner or later I will have to face Voldemort soon and they know that." Harry learned about the prophecy concerning him and Voldemort by the end of his third year when he first faced Voldemort at the edge of Hogsmeade one afternoon because of a trap he fell into. He managed to escape from him because of his wand which happened to be brother wands with the Dark Lord's and after the encounter, Dumbledore decided to tell him about the prophecy.

"You know," said Ron, "If only we have some kind of way to find out how to defeat You-Know-Who -"

"Ron, why can't you just say his name? It's not even his real name," Harry rolled his eyes. "Really, I can help you get over with the stupid fear of the name. Just say Vol – de -"

A flash of light appeared over of Ron's head and a book fell out, hitting the redhead on the head. "Ow!"

Harry picked up the book curiously while Ron grumbled, "Who did that? Don't tell me it's you Hermione -"

"Why would it be me? I didn't summon a book on your head, Ronald -"

"Guys," said Harry suddenly, getting their attention, "Look at this book -" he showed it to them the book that appeared; it had a yellowish cover and strangely enough, the illustration on the cover was a male who looked exactly like Harry. But what got his attention was the title itself. "_Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows_," he read the title. "What's the Deathly Hallows?" he turned to Hermione, hoping she would know.

"I haven't heard of them," Hermione shook her head.

"That's new," snorted Ron. "Hermione not knowing something." Then he got hit on the head by her, "Ow!"

"You don't mind if I check it? Just to be sure it's not dangerous or anything -" said Hermione to Harry, taking the book from his hands and brandishing her wand. She placed the book on a table, casted a number of spells and incantations on the book and after a minute or two, she said finally, "I don't think there's nothing wrong with it." She picked up the book from the table, looked all over it before opening it. She gasped. "I can't believe this!"

"What about it?" questioned Ron, watching her curiously.

"This – this book – it was published in 2007!" she told them with her eyes opened wide.

"What?" said Harry and Ron together in disbelief.

"2007? But that's like eleven years from now -" frowned Harry. "D'you think the book -?"

"- came from the future?" finished Hermione with a sceptical look, "I don't think so. You do know time-travel is dangerous as I've said to you during our third year -"

"Then why's it here?"

Ron, without asking Hermione, took the book and checked the first few pages. "There are other books published before this one – _Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone_ at Harry's first year,_ Chamber of Secrets_ at year two -"

"What? Chamber of Secrets?" repeated Hermione. "But that's a myth! A legend!"

"That's what it was printed here," said Ron casually, "_Prisoner of Azkaban_ at year three -"

"Which prisoner of Azkaban?" frowned Harry. "I don't know anyone there except for Wormtail," he ended with venom in his voice.

"Will you guys stop interrupting me?" asked Ron scratchily at them, "Anyway, next one is _the Goblet of Fire_ at year four -" he shot a testy look at Harry who was about to say that the Triwizard Tournament happened and with Cedric becoming champion, "- _Order of the Phoenix_ at year five, and _Half-blood Prince_ at year six."

"What's with the odd titles?" asked Harry, peering at the book over Ron's shoulder. "What's the Philosopher's Stone -?"

"It's a stone created by Nicholas Flamel," answered Hermione promptly as if reciting during class. "The stone itself have magical properties such as turning any metal into gold and extending one person's life more than a hundreds of years. It's also called the Elixir of Life."

"Wow, that stone sounds wicked," nodded Ron. "But why need it to extend one's life? Everyone knows that any wizard or witch lives longer than Muggles up to 200 years or more. I mean look at Dumbledore, I'm sure he's more than a hundred years old and our OWL examiners like Tofty and Marchbanks, they're older than Dumbledore himself."

Harry and Hermione stared at him as if he grew another head. "Right," he said slowly. "And the Order of the Phoenix, what does that imply? I didn't get to join the Order last year and not even now." He finished angrily.

"Don't forget the Half-blood Prince," said Hermione. "I don't think there's a Prince in the Wizarding World, is there?"

"Nope, I don't think there are any wizarding royalties," Ron shook his head, "Except those Pure-blood bigots who think they are one."

"Well," began Hermione, looking at Harry and Ron, "We should show that book -" she shot a look at the book in Ron's hand, "- to Professor Dumbledore and we might be able to know what it is."

"No way," said Harry, surprising the two, "They might take it away from us and we won't be able to read it. And besides, we found it first."

"Harry! You can't be serious with what you're saying!" said Hermione sternly at him. "Ron!" she turned to Ron, expecting him to have his say over the matter.

"Er," said Ron slowly, "You two have a point. They might take it from us but we found it first, but it's best if we show it to them. It really might help us win the war," he sighed deeply before looking at Harry straight in the eye, "But honestly speaking, we can always negotiate with them. We can ask them if we can read the book with them since we found it first." He added quickly.

Harry stared at the two before letting out a sigh. "Alright, you two win. Let's go to Dumbledore's office."

* * *

"Enter," said Dumbledore, who sat in his highchair in his office. The door opened and to his mild surprise, Harry, Ron and Hermione entered inside. "I hope you did not come here because of detention," he said with a slight amused tone in his voice.

"No sir," said Harry. "We're here because," he shared at look with the other two and continued, "We found something that might help win the war," he finished.

Dumbledore's eyebrows shot up upon hearing his words. "Are you sure, Mr. Potter?"

"Actually, no," he said honestly, "But we think it will be helpful. It was a book sir," he gestured Ron to show it to the Headmaster, "A book from the future."

Dumbledore moved his hand to take the book from the Ron, and his eyes widened for a fraction as he read the title. He opened it and read the first few pages, just until the table of contents, and closed it. "Where did you find this book?"

"It – it just appeared to us," answered Hermione this time. "A flash of light appeared and the book fell out. But sir, we're not sure if it is real, the books mentioned before that one were a bit peculiar," she continued. "Like Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets which the chamber is just a mere legend, or the Half-blood Prince – "

"I understand, Miss Granger," said Dumbledore, halting her. "Now, another question, have you read this?"

They all shook their heads. "No, we decided not to since we wanted to show it to you," said Harry slowly, watching the Headmaster's expression, "We would like to read it though, in case, you decided to read it." He knew it was rude to say this but it was their last chance to know what was in it.

Dumbledore surveyed their worried yet hopeful looks before saying, "I will let you know, after I have made the decision. In the meantime, please wait."

Harry closed his eyes. It was now doubtful if they were able to read the book. "Thank you, sir." With one last wistful look, he and Ron and Hermione left the office.

As soon as they left, Dumbledore glanced at the book. "The Deathly Hallows," he read gravely.

* * *

It had been four days since Harry, Ron and Hermione gave away the book to the headmaster. They waited and waited, wanting to know if they would be able to read the book. Harry began to feel pessimistic about it, saying that it was doubtful that they would be allowed to read the book because the Order would think that they were not old enough or any other excuse they would give to them.

It was dinner time and the three of them were at the Great Hall, sitting at Gryffindor table and eating together. Harry glanced at the high table where the professors usually sit and saw Dumbledore nowhere.

"Where do you think he is right now?" he whispered to Ron and Hermione.

"Maybe he's holding an Order meeting," suggested Hermione.

Ron nodded and gulping his food, he said his sentiments, "He shouldn't be leaving Hogwarts too long, I heard from one of the portraits that he's gone since the afternoon."

"I'm sure he'll come back soon," said Hermione. "He never leaves Hogwarts without any protection."

"Harry?" a female voice called Harry.

Harry turned around and saw Ginny Weasley, younger sister of Ron, standing behind him. "What?" he asked.

"Professor Dumbledore asked me to tell you to go to his office after dinner," she told him. "Oh, also you too Ron and Hermione."

"Right, thanks." Said Harry to her.

Ginny looked at them shrewdly before questioning them, "Did you three do something this time?"

"No," the three of them said quickly.

"All right, if you say so," Ginny shook her head before going away to sit with her friends.

Harry, Ron and Hermione shared at glance, knowing what it would be all about.

* * *

"Come in," said Dumbledore and the three students he called for entered inside his office, "I believe all three of you know why I called for you," he watched them closely, pausing for a moment before he continued, "I made my decision. I discussed this with the Order," Harry couldn't help but groan, "As it is appropriate, and the decision is...to let you read the book with us."

Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing right now. He found himself grinning, along with Ron and Hermione. "I told you," grinned Ron.

"Thanks Professor," he said, "I – I thought -" Harry stammered.

"- that I would say no?" finished Dumbledore with a twinkle in his eye, "Half of the Order opposed to the idea, including your parents," Harry couldn't help but scowl, "believing that it would be bad and since you're not an Order member yourself, but after a lengthy discussion, they all agreed in the end."

"Even my parents?" asked Harry doubtfully.

"Your father did," replied Dumbledore. "Your mother is just worried for you, Harry. You must understand that."

"I know," said Harry. "I do know that, but she can't treat me like a child any longer."

"Yes, you have a point," nodded the headmaster gravely. "Well then, I believe that is all. I shall inform when the book will be read. You may go now." When they were gone, Dumbledore leaned on his highchair and closed his eyes to rest a bit. "It seems that the following days will become interesting, Fawkes," he said quietly to his familiar.

* * *

_**Yeah, this is going to be a confusing story, eh?**_

_**I'm going to explain this to you. This is obviously AU (Alternate Universe) wherein Harry's parents survived. Voldemort did have his body destroyed because of his attempt murder of Harry but he regained it back at a much earlier time with someone else's help, not Wormtail's (Voldemort have the power of persuasion like what happened to Quirell from book one, it's possible to have his body back in a much earlier date).**_

_**About Hermione's exclaim about the Chamber of Secrets being a myth, Ginny in this story was not possessed by the diary. The Weasleys and Malfoys meeting in front of Flourish and Blotts never happened, therefore the Chamber of Secrets wasn't open and stayed as a myth.**_

_**Now to Dumbledore. He, on the other hand, still has no idea how to defeat Voldemort. Why? Because his guesses are still guesses. Remember the time at the end of book two where Harry told him about the diary possessing Ginny and young version of Voldemort was the cause of the mayhem? That's when Dumbledore's suspicions of Voldemort using a very dark magic led him to believe that it was the Horcrux that helped Voldemort stayed alive. So without the diary, Dumbledore would still be in the dark on how to defeat Voldemort. **_

_**Hm, about Voldemort now being resurrected his body, somebody from the inside of Hogwarts managed to get Harry's blood - come on, it's Hogwarts. It isn't always safe – mostly safe anyway. And yes, it's Quirell who took the blood forcibly from Harry – no, he's not possessed, just reformed to become one of the Dark Lord's henchmen. Harry survived, yes, with the aid of some of the Professors. That's plausible enough, I think. I might make up a scene for that.**_

_**Harry's personality here's a bit different since he had his parents, by the way. I'm not really sure what his personality will here but hopefully I'll get by. That's all for**__** now and reviews please.**_


	2. Dark Lord Ascending

_A small uproar erupted._

"_Certainly not!" said Lily and Molly together, looking quite crossed._

"_They're too young, Albus," said Molly angrily to him. "I can't believe you would suggest that -"_

_A portion of the Order (the most trusted) were inside Grimmauld Place (offered by Sirius Black) which turned into their headquarters. They were at the sitting room where their meeting was being held. Dumbledore sent them a message through Patronus to come at once and when all of them arrived, he told them what happened. Some of them looked confused, others were sceptic, and the rest were slightly curious and intrigued. When one of them, Nymphadora Tonks, asked when they would start reading the book, Dumbledore then mentioned that if they were to read this book, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger would join them as well._

_Dumbledore held up his hand, silencing her and the others, and continued, "I promised them and I said I will consider -"_

"_It will be better off to say no," said James Potter. He had the same messy hair that Harry inherited from him, wore round glasses and behind them were hazel brown eyes. "If you like, I will send an owl to him -"_

"_There will be no need, James," said Dumbledore. "But understand them. If you were in his place, you would be doing the same thing. If not both your sons," he gestured to the Weasleys and Potters, "then it is not for you to object if Miss Granger will join -"_

"_She will tell them anyway since they're friends," argued Lily. "It won't matter if she's the only one who will join -"_

"_She has a point there," said Moody gruffly._

"_Everyone," said Remus suddenly. "Please, we can't put them in the dark any longer. The war is getting worse -" everyone nodded, "- and more lives are being taken away. Harry – he already knew what his path is -" both Lily and James looked down, "- and it will not do any good if we keep hiding things from him."_

"_But he can't – he's -" Lily said._

"_- because he's young?" repeated Sirius with a frown. "I know I'm not exactly a good godfather to him, but I agree with Remus here. Harry won't be any younger soon. He's going to be seventeen next year and whether you like it or not Lily and James, he will fight."_

"_We're his parents, Sirius -" James said stiffly._

"_I know that perfectly enough, he looks exactly like you," said Sirius sarcastically, cutting him across while rolling his eyes, "But he's going to become of age – a man – he's not a toddler anymore, James!"_

"_But we are his parents," said Lily persistently. "If I have to tie him up in a chain, I'll do it – I'll do anything to keep his safe!" and she cried. James comforted her, whispering in her ear soothingly._

"_Lily, you can't keep this up," piped up Tonks. "I'm no parent, but I can understand Harry and the other kids. If parents keep forcing them on something they don't want, they'll rebel until they won't listen anymore. You don't want Harry to leave you, right?"_

"_Harry is capable of taking care of himself. He's your child," said Remus softly to the Potters. "Have faith in him."_

"Lily dear?" asked James concernedly, placing his hand on his wife's shoulder.

Lily snapped out of her reverie and looked up to her husband. "I – I'm fine," she said with a forced smile. "Really James."

James gave her a look but did not comment any further. They were in the kitchen inside Grimmauld Place, waiting for their son Harry to arrive through Floo network. Some of the Weasley members were also inside the building, waiting for their family members to arrive. A flash of emerald flames erupted and Harry first appeared in the fireplace, soon followed by Ron, Ginny and lastly Hermione (who informed her parents where they should be meeting each other later).

Lily rushed to embrace her son who looked surprised with her actions. "Welcome home, Harry," she said softly to him.

"Hey Mum," replied Harry awkwardly, patting her on the back.

"Harry! You're back!" a young boy greeted happily as he ran to the Boy-Who-Lived and gave him a hug. "I've been waiting for you!"

Harry let out a laugh. "Me too, Nathan," he said to him, ruffling the hair of the young boy. The boy was his younger brother and the two didn't look alike; Nathan inherited most of his mother's features such as his red hair, good eyesight and the shape of his shape. But in personality he was very much like his father.

"You going already, Hermione?" Harry looked up to Hermione and asked as his mother let go of him.

"Yes," nodded Hermione. "I'll be staying with my parents for a week," she gave him, Ron and Ginny and quick hug before leaving. "See you next week," she said to them.

"I'll accompany her to meet her parents until they arrived to their home," said Tonks to them and morphing her face into an entirely different person, she walked beside Hermione left the house.

"Are you hungry?" asked Molly to the children.

"Not much," shrugged Harry.

"I am now," said Ron. "Is there anything to eat here?" he asked his mother.

"We made some sandwiches for you before you arrived," said Lily to them as she carried a big plate filled with sandwiches. "Eat this while we're still making dinner."

Harry and Ron ate the sandwiches (Ron ate most of them) and after that, they left the kitchen. They were about to go upstairs when James called Harry. Harry glanced at Ron, who shrugged, and feeling curious, he went to his father. "Let's go to the study room, shall we?" James led the way and reaching the room, he opened the door and entered inside. "Lock the door behind," he told him.

"Right," said Harry. "What are we going to talk about?"

"I know we've been strict with you Harry, but you know that your mother and I are very worried for you – as parents, we don't want our child to be in danger but it seems that trouble has ways of locating you instead of the other way around," sighed James. "But understand that we don't want you to get hurt and both of us will do anything we can to protect you."

"But you know that you can't treat me like a child forever," said Harry while frowning. "I'm going to be seventeen -"

"I know that," said James, "You've proven yourself more than once that you're a capable wizard and your mother and I are very proud of you. And as much as you don't like it, we'll treat you like a kid even if you're in your thirties. Parents are like that."

Harry continued to frown at him but after a few seconds, he let out a sigh. "I guess you have a point," he muttered.

The two of them embraced each other for a bit until they let go of each other. "Dad, have you read the book yet?" asked Harry tentatively.

"No," answered James. "Albus said it's best to read it when everyone's here. And I think Sirius has just arrived with Remus," the two of them left the study room and walking downstairs they saw Sirius and Remus talking with Lily. "How's the work?"

"Fine," said Sirius. "No ambush at King's Cross."

"It's quiet, really," said Remus. "But it's better than having an attack. Hello Harry," he greeted James's son. "Doing all right?"

"Yeah," said Harry, glancing toward his father. "I'm fine."

* * *

The week went by fast; Harry and Ron played Exploding Snap with Ginny and Nathan Gobstones, Chess (Ron won six rounds straight), and had done other things they could do while waiting for the moment they have been waiting for. On Christmas day, Harry received a haul of gifts coming from his friends and family. He and Ron spent most of the morning opening presents and would have a go on some (such as the gift the twins had given them and the Two-Way mirrors that his father had given him). They went downstairs with the others and chatted amongst each other, not spoiling the day despite the war happening.

The day after the next, Hermione finally arrived with Tonks as her guardian. "Hello guys," she said to them, hugging them.

"How's Christmas?" asked Ron.

"It was fine," said Hermione. "They were a bit disappointed that I had to stay the rest of the holidays here but they understand. At least I got to spend time with them during Christmas," she added with a small smile. "Is everyone here?" she asked them.

"Almost," said Harry. "Only Mad-Eye, Shakebolt, McGonagall and Remus are the ones not here yet."

"They'll arrive later around dinnertime, I'm sure of it," said Ron. "So, did you like the gifts we sent you?"

"Oh it was nice," said Hermione, beaming. "How did you know that I want that book about Ancient Symbolism and Numerology?" she asked, turning to Harry.

"I believe you mentioned it once," said Harry to her.

"And Ron, thanks for the bracelet," said Hermione, flushing slightly.

"No problem, I thought you might like it," shrugged Ron, but gave her a small wink. Hermione stifled a small giggle in return.

Harry rolled his eyes. It's been five months since the two were secretly going out and it was driving him mad. Yes, he was happy for them – they had been walking around eggshells since fourth year, bickering and biting each others heads off (even now, they would still bicker but with something more to it) – but it was making him uncomfortable sometimes. Sure, he had his fair share of girlfriends (or flings as Hermione put it with a stern look on her face), but it wasn't in the same level as the two.

They chatted for a while, wondering what the contents were inside the book and what it would reveal to them. They didn't realise that it was already dinnertime until Ginny decided to find them and call them down. When they were all done, the others had already arrived, including Dumbledore.

"I believe everyone is here," said Dumbledore.

"Where are we going to read the book?" asked Harry eagerly. Ginny and Nathan looked curious with what's happening so Hermione informed them about it.

"The study room will be a good place to read," said Sirius. "It's spacious enough for all of us to read it." The others nodded and everyone walked upstairs and entered the mentioned room.

When everyone settled down (Some sat on sofas while the others, the children, sat on the carpet), Dumbledore took out the book and looked at everyone. He began explaining to the others who didn't know such as Nathan and Ginny, and after a while, he asked, "Now, I'm certain all of you are eager to read so I will ask who would like to read first?" Hermione's hand shot up the same time Lily raised hers. Ron, Harry, James, Sirius and Remus chuckled.

"It's fine, you may read it first, Hermione," said Lily, putting down her hand slowly.

"Well then, Miss Granger," Dumbledore gave the book to the brown-haired Muggle-born witch and sat back on his seat.

Hermione opened the book and found the first chapter. "Curious," she said. "The title of the first chapter is _the Dark Lord Ascending_."

"That's odd," said James. "Voldemort -" he ignored the flinches from the others, "- already ascended almost five years ago. What year is the book again?"

"It's year seven," answered Hermione promptly. "Quite odd. If I may continue?"

**The two men appeared out of nowhere, a few yards apart in the narrow, moonlit lane. For a second they stood quite still, wands directed at each other's chest; then, recognizing each other, they stowed their wands beneath their cloaks and started walking briskly in the same direction.**

"**News?" asked the taller of the two.**

"**The best," replied Severus Snape.**

"Snivellus," spat Sirius with his eyes narrowing.

"Sirius," said Dumbledore sharply.

"What's he doing?" questioned Harry but he did not receive any answer.

**The lane was bordered on the left by wild, low-growing brambles, on the right by a high, neatly manicured hedge. The men's long cloaks flapped around their ankles as they marched.**

"**I thought I might be late," said Yaxley, his blunt features sliding in and out of sight as the branches of overhanging trees broke the moonlight. "It was a little trickier than I expected. But I hope he will be satisfied. You sound confident that your reception will be good?"**

"What are they talking about?" frowned Tonks.

"Something big," growled Mad-Eye.

**Snape nodded, but did not elaborate. They turned right, into a wide driveway that led off the lane. The high hedge curved with them, running off in to the distance beyond the pair of impressive wrought-iron gates barring the men's way.**

"That place sounds familiar," said Sirius slowly.

**Neither of them broke step: in silence both raised their left arms in a kind of salute and passed straight through, as though the dark metal were smoke.**

"The Dark Mark." Said Harry in disgust.

**The yew hedges muffled the sound of the men's footsteps. There was a rustle somewhere to their right: Yaxley drew his wand again, pointing it over his companion's head, but the source of the noise proved to be nothing more than a pure-white peacock, strutting majestically along the top of the hedge.**

"**He always did himself well, Lucius. **_**Peacocks…**_**" Yaxley thrust his wand back under his cloak with a snort.**

"It seems that the place the two are going is Malfoy Manor," concluded James.

"D'you think it's where their headquarters are?" asked Remus to his friend. "It's a good place, I have to admit. No one has ever suspected that it's their hideout. And Malfoy Manor is heavily warded just like in any other rich pure-blood home."

"It's the perfect hidey-hole for scums," snarled Sirius.

"You three, keep quiet." Lily said to them, frowning.

**A handsome manor house grew out of the darkness at then end of the straight drive, lights glinting in the diamond-paned downstairs windows. Somewhere in the dark garden beyond the hedge a fountain was playing. Gravel crackled beneath their feet as Snape and Yaxley sped toward the front door, which swung inward at their approach, though nobody had visibly opened it.**

**The hallway was large, dimly lit, and sumptuously decorated, with a magnificent carpet covering most of the stone floor. The eyes of the pale-faced portraits on the walls followed Snape and Yaxley as they strode past. The two men halted at eh heavy wooden door leading into the next room, hesitated for the space of a heartbeat, then Snape turned the bronze handle.**

**The drawing room was full of silent people, sitting at a long and ornate table.**

"It seems that there is a major meeting happening." Noted Dumbledore.

**The room's usual furniture had been pushed carelessly up against the walls. Illumination came from a roaring fire beneath a handsome marble mantelpiece surmounted by a gilded mirror. Snape and Yaxley lingered for a moment on the threshold. As their eyes grew accustomed to the lack of light, they were drawn upward to the strangest feature of the scene: an apparently unconscious human figure hanging upside down over the table, revolving slowly as if suspended by an invisible rope,**

Everyone looked disturbed and disgusted. "That's – that's horrible!" cried Hermione. "How can they do that -?"

"Because they can," said Mad-Eye shortly, his voice hard and rough.

"Why do they have to do that?" demanded Ginny.

"It is a form of amusement among Death Eaters." Explained the Ex-Auror. "Usually, they do that to someone they are strongly against, such as a Muggle-born, a Blood-traitor or anyone who is pro-Muggle as they say."

Everyone had revolted expressions on their faces.

**and reflected in the mirror and in the bare, polished surface of the table below. None of the people seated underneath this singular sight was looking at it except for a pale young man sitting almost directly below it. He seemed unable to prevent himself from glancing upward every minute or two.**

Dumbledore looked mildly saddened for the young Slytherin to witness such atrocity at a very young age. McGonagall had a suspicion who that young man was but didn't mention it. She felt pity for him for being there to witness such cruelty.

"I bet that's Malfoy," whispered Ron to Harry.

"**Yaxley, Snape," said a high, clear voice from the head of the table. "You are very nearly late."**

"How dare Snape is very nearly late!" said George in mock rage. "He shall be punished for what he did!"

"I'm terribly sorry my lord," gasped Fred exaggeratedly, pretending to be Snape. "I shall never be nearly late ever again!" And almost everyone in the room chuckled at the sight.

"That's enough, Mr. And Mr. Weasley," said McGonagall, giving them a look.

"Yes, ma'am," the twins saluted.

**The speaker was seated directly in front of the fireplace, so that it was difficult, at first, for the new arrivals to make out more than his silhouette. As they drew nearer, however, his face shone through the gloom, hairless, snakelike, with slits for nostrils and gleaming red eyes whose pupils were vertical. He was so pale that he seemed to emit a pearly glow.**

The ones who hadn't seen Voldemort personally had looks of repulsion. "That's how You-Know-Who looks like?" yelped Nathan.

All members of the Order, plus Harry, nodded grimly.

"**Severus, here," said Voldemort, indicating the seat on his immediate right. "Yaxley – beside Dolohov."**

Dumbledore's eyebrows shot up in mild surprise. The wheels inside his mind began to turn, thinking what could have happened to turn out like that. The others, on the other hand, were shocked. "So he's Voldemort's right hand man," Said James in a reedy voice. "That's quite a feat."

"What did Snape do to reach that position?" whispered Harry to Ron and Hermione but the two simply shrugged, not knowing what to say.

**The two men allotted their places. Most of the eyes around the table followed Snape, and it was to him that Voldemort spoke first.**

"**So?"**

"**My Lord, the Order of the Phoenix intends to move Harry Potter from this current place of safety on Saturday next, at nightfall."**

Everyone looked outraged with what book-Snape had said. "Why is he telling that to those filths?" demanded Sirius to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore held up his hand and everyone silenced. "I do not have the answer to his actions, Sirius as this is happening in the future. But assured to you that Severus is on our side –"

"How sure are you that he's on our side?" said James angrily.

"James, do not doubt the Headmaster -" said McGonagall but stopped as she noticed Dumbledore's expression.

Dumbledore watched him closely, his gaze not wavered. "I trust Severus completely."

"But –" began Harry but Dumbledore continued so he stopped himself.

"It is only between Severus and I," said Dumbledore. "I will not betray his trust nor he will to me. I ask everyone not to question this any further."

When everyone did not dare speak out, Hermione took the chance to read again.

**The interest around the table sharpened palpably: Some stiffened, other fidgeted, all gazing at Snape and Voldemort.**

"**Saturday…at nightfall," repeated Voldemort. His red eyes fastened upon Snape's black ones with such intensity**

"What Voldemort is doing now is using Legilimency on Severus." Explained Dumbleodre shortly to those who did not understand the gesture.

"What's Legilimency?" asked Ginny.

"It is the penetration of one wizard inside another wizard's mind." explained Remus. "It's one of the obscure branches of magic that cannot be learned alone. In Muggle terms, it's roughly equivalent to mind-reading, but I daresay it is not, as the mind cannot be read like a book."

"That sounds pretty efficient," said Hermione. "So You-Know-Who's using this kind of magic to know whether someone is lying to him or not."

"Yes, that's one of uses of Legilimency." nodded Dumbledore. "And now we must continue reading."

**that some of the watchers looked away, apparently fearful that they themselves would be scorched by the ferocity of the gaze. Snape, however, looked calmly back into Voldemort's face and, after a moment or two, Voldemort's lipless mouth curved into something like a smile.**

"**Good. Very good. And this information comes -"**

"**- from the source we discussed," said Snape.**

"What source?" muttered Harry.

"**My Lord."**

**Yaxley leaned forward to look down the long table at Voldemort and Snape. All faces turned to him.**

"**My Lord, I have heard differently."**

The Order members looked curious.

**Yaxley waited, but Voldemort did not speak, so he went on, "Dawlish, the Auror, let slip that Potter will not be moved until the thirtieth, the night before the boy turns seventeen."**

**Snape was smiling.**

"He can smile?" gasped the Weasley twins.

"There is a miracle!" said Fred in mock-shock. "The old bat can smile!"

"It's the end of the world!" hollered George.

"You two, that's enough," said Molly sternly.

"**My source told me that there are plans to lay a false trail; this must be it. No doubt a Confundus Charm has been placed upon Dawlish. It would not be the first time; he is known to be suspectible."**

"**I assure you my Lord, Dawlish seemed quite certain," said Yaxley.**

"If he's Confunded then obviously he's certain," scoffed Harry who met Dawlish last year. The auror gave him a not-so-good impression because he due to his incompetence.

"**If he has been Confunded, naturally he is certain," said Snape.**

Harry looked horrified that they said the same thing. The others looked amused and slightly disturbed.

"That is weird," said Ron. "You and Snape think alike -"

"That's not true!" argued Sirius. "Harry is absolutely different from that greasy git!"

"Exactly! He -" James stopped abruptly as he felt Lily's glare directed at him. "I'll keep quiet."

"**I assure **_**you**_**, Yaxley, the Auror Officer will play no further part in the protection of Harry Potter. The Order believes that we have infiltrated the Ministry."**

"**The Order's got one thing right, then, eh?" said a squat man sitting a short distance from Yaxley; he gave a wheezy giggle that was echoed here and there along the table.**

Everyone looked apprehensive, not wanting that to happen.

**Voldemort did not laugh. His gaze had wandered upward to the body revolving slowly overhead, and he seemed to be lost in thought.**

"**My Lord," Yaxley went on, "Dawlish believes an entire part of Aurors will be used to transfer the boy -"**

**Voldemort held up his large white hand, and Yaxley subsided at once, watching resentfully as Voldemort turned back to Snape.**

"**Where are they going to hide the boy next?"**

"Don't tell me he's going to tell them that as well?" asked Lily to Dumbledore, her eyes flashing dangerously.

"I do not know," answered Dumbledore truthfully.

"**At the home of one of the Order," said Snape. "The place, according to the source, has been given every protection that the Order and Ministry together could provide. I think that there is little chance of taking him once he is there,**

"That's good," sighed Hermione while the others looked relieved.

**my Lord, unless, of course, the Ministry has fallen before next Saturdaym which might give us the opportunity to discover and undo enough of the enchantments to break through the rest."**

"**Well, Yaxley?" Voldemort called down the table, the firelight glinting strangely in his red eyes. "**_**Will**_** the Ministry have fallen by next Saturday?"**

"Hopefully not." said Nathan.

**Once again, all heads turned. Yaxley squared his shoulders.**

"**My Lord, I have good news on that score. I have – with difficulty, and after great effort – succeeded in placing an Imperius Curse upon Pius Thicknesse."**

Some of the Order members frowned. "That doesn't sound good," said Shacklebolt.

"Who's Pius Thicknesse?" asked Harry.

"He's the next Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement who will replace Amelia Bones if ever she retires or...dies." explained the werewolf to him. "It's bad news for us, Dumbledore."

"Indeed, it is," said Dumbledore gravely. "With him under the Death Eaters' control, the Ministry will be fallen soon."

"Oh I just hope someone will realise that he's under the Imperius Curse." fretted Hermione.

**Many of those sitting around Yaxley looked impressed; his neighbour, Dolohov, a man with a long, twisted face, clapped him on the back.**

"**It is a start," said Voldemort. "But Thicknesse is only one man. Scrimgeour must be surrounded by our people before I act. One failed attempt on the Minister's life will set me back a long way."**

Everyone looked confused. "Why's Scrimgeour the prime minister?" questioned James to Dumbledore. "Are we going to have a new Prime Minister soon?" Currently, the Prime Minister was Cornelius Fudge who in the end of Harry's second year, accepted that Voldemort had indeed returned and tried his best to protect the community.

Dumbledore frowned. "It's curious, indeed."

"Who's he?" asked Harry.

"He's the current Head Auror," informed James who was second-in command.

"Do you think he will be a good prime minister?" asked Lily to her husband.

"I'm not sure but definitely, he will be an entirely different one." Answered James. "Keep reading, Hermione."

"**Yes – my Lord, that is true – but you know, as Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Thicknesse has regular contact not only with the Minister himself, but also with the Heads of all the other Ministry departments. It will, I think, be easy now that he have such a high-ranking official under our control, to subjugate the others, and then they can all work together to bring Scrimgeour down."**

"**As long as our friend Thicknesse is not discovered before he has converted the rest," said Voldermort. "At any rate, it remains unlikely that the Ministry will be mine before next Saturday. If we cannot touch the boy at his destination, then it must be done while he travels."**

"There's something wrong," said Remus as he listened. "Why would Harry need to be moved out in the open?"

"Is it not safe at our home?" asked Lily concernedly to James.

"I don't know, it doesn't make any sense," said James bewilderingly. "Albus, is this book wrong -?"

"I believe it's not," said Dumbledore. "But I believe what your assumptions are correct also, the information is clearly confusing."

"Let's continue reading," said Arthur. "We might have an idea."

"**We are at an advantage there, my Lord," said Yaxley, who seemed determined to receive some portion of approval. "We now have several people planted within the Department of Magical Transport. If Potter Apprates or uses the Floo Network, we shall know immediately."**

"They're breaching inside the Ministry," gasped Tonks.

"I think there's a reason why Harry must be moved in the open," said Mad-Eye gruffly.

"**He will not do either," said Snape. "The Order is eschewing any form of transport that is controlled or regulated by the Ministry; they mistrust everything to do with place."**

"That's somewhat true," nodded Sirius.

"**All the better," said Voldemort. "He will have to move in the open. Easier to take by far."**

**Again, Voldemort looked up at the slowly revolving body as he went on, "I shall attend to the boy in person. There have been too many mistakes where Harry Potter is concerned. Some of them have been my own. That Potter lives is due more to my errors than to his triumphs."**

Everyone looked curious with what Voldemort had said. "How many times have you face Voldemort, Harry?" questioned Lily to her son.

"I think thrice already," said Harry uncertainly. "Why?"

"Because the book implied that you have faced You-Know-Who more than what you've just said," explained Hermione, looking slightly pale. "This book is clearly not making any sense."

**The company around the table watched Voldemort apprehensively, each of them, by his or her expression, afraid that they might be blamed for Harry Potter's continued existence. Voldemort, however, seemed to be speaking more to himself than to any of them, still addressing the unconscious body above him.**

Everyone looked disgusted.

"**I have been careless, and so have been thwarted by luck and chance, those wreckers of all but the best-laid plans. But I know better now. I understand those things that I did not understand before. I must be the one to kill Harry Potter and I shall be."**

"That is one huge mistake," pointed out Harry while shaking his head. "If he let his cronies kill me, his goal would have been achieved two years earlier."

Everyone, especially Ron and Hermione, looked horrified and scandalised with what he just said. "Don't say that!" scolded Hermione. "It's a good thing that he -" the others flinched, "- still insisted he is the only one who can kill you or – or -" then tears began welling from her eyes.

Harry looked alarmed, staring at her in shock. Ron suddenly hit his hand across the back of Harry's head and hissed, "You git! Look what you did!"

Not knowing what to do, he patted her on the back in a comforting sort of way and said, "Alright, I'll stop saying those things -"

"You should be!" Ginny said while hitting him on the head with her hand before taking out a handkerchief from her pocket and handing it to Hermione.

**At these words, seemingly in response to them, a sudden wail sounded, a terrible, drawn-out cry of misery and pain. Many of those at the table looked downward, startled, for the sound had seemed to issue from below their feet.**

"**Wormtail,"**

Everyone who knew the former Marauder turned cold, hating that the vermin still existed for so long. The Marauders had the lividest expression on their faces; they hated the man for what he had done and one day, retribution would come.

**Said Voldemort, with no change in his quiet, thoughtful tone, and without removing his eyes from the revolving body above, "have I not spoken to you about keeping our prisoner quiet?"**

"**Yes, m-my Lord," gasped a small man halfway down the table, who had been sitting so low in his chair that it had appeared, at first glance, to be unoccupied. Now he scrambled from his seat and scurried from the room, leaving nothing behind him but a curious gleam of silver.**

"**As I was saying," continued Voldemort, looking again at the tense faces of his followers, "I understand better now. I shall need, for instance, to borrow a wand from one of you before I go to kill Potter."**

"What?" some of the occupants looked confused.

"Why would he want to borrow a wand?" asked Nathan.

"Yeah, didn't he have one on his own?" nodded Fred.

"Oh he does have one," said Dumbledore. "But he couldn't use it against Harry."

"Why?" asked Ginny.

"Because we have the same wand core." answered Harry to Ginny. "Because of that, he couldn't kill me. Brother wands do not work well against each other."

"So that's the reason why he's 'borrowing' another wand?" said George thoughtfully. "That's quite a coincidence…you and Snake-face having the same wand cores."

"Yeah, I am," nodded Harry. "But sir, if Voldemort uses another wand against me, will it work?"

"I'm not sure but I have my own guesses with regards to that." said Dumbledore serenely. "Please keep reading, Miss Granger."

**The faces around him displayed nothing but shock; he might have announced that he wanted to borrow one of their arms.**

"Apparently, it is." drawled Sirius.

"A wand is an important part of a wizard or witch." said Tonks who had her wand all the time, even when she sleeps.

"I doubt no one will volunteer to hand out their wands to him, even he is the Dark Lord," snorted Bill who had just spoken.

"**No volunteers?" said Voldemort. "Let's see…Lucius, I see no reason for you to have a wand anymore."**

Everyone couldn't help but snicker. "Ouch," laughed Sirius. "That's going to hurt badly."

"It seems that the Lucius Malfoy has fallen from disgrace," said James dryly. "He deserves it, whatever he has done, that is."

**Lucius Malfoy looked up. His skin appeared yellowish and waxy in the firelight, and his eyes were sunken and shadowed. When he spoke, his voice was hoarse.**

"**My Lord?"**

"**Your wand, Lucius. I require your wand."**

"**I…"**

**Malfoy glanced sideways at his wife. she was staring straight ahead, quite pale as he was, her long blonde hair hanging down her back, but beneath the table her slim fingers closed briefly on his wrist.**

Sirius's eyes softened slightly when the gesture was mentioned. Even if he had long turned away from them, he could remember everything as if it was yesterday. He knew perfectly that Narcissa was a strong woman and not just some trophy wife others perceived her to be.

**At her touch, Malfoy put his hand into his robes, withdrew a wand, and passed it along to Voldemort, who held it up in front of his red eyes, examining it closely.**

"**What is it?"**

"**Elm, my Lord," whispered Malfoy.**

"**And the core?"**

"**Dragon – dragon heartstring."**

"**Good," said Voldemort. He drew out his own wand and compared the lengths. Lucius Malfoy made an involuntary movement; For a fraction of a second, it seemed he expected to receive Voldemort's wand in exchange for his own.**

"Wrong move." said Shacklebolt wryly.

**The gesture was not missed by Voldemort, whose eyes widened maliciously.**

"**Give you my wand, Lucius? **_**My**_** wand?"**

**Some of the throng sniggered.**

"**I have given you your liberty, Lucius, is that not enough for you? But I have noticed that you and your family seem less than happy of late…What is it about my presence in your home that displeases you, Lucius?"**

"Everything about you." said Harry nonchalantly.

"**Nothing – nothing, my Lord!"**

"**Such **_**lies**_**, Lucius…"**

**The soft voice seemed to hiss on even after the cruel mouth had stopped moving. one or two of the wizards barely repressed a shudder as the hissing grew louder; something heavy could be heard sliding across the floor beneath the table.**

**The huge snake emerged to climb slowly up Voldemort's chair. It rose, seemingly endlessly, and came to rest across Voldemort's shoulders: its neck the thickness of a man's thigh; its eyes, with their vertical slits for pupils, unblinkingly. Voldemort stroked the creature absently with long thin fingers, still looking at Lucius Malfoy.**

"**Why do the Malfoys look so unhappy with their lot? Is my return, my rise to power, not the very thing they professed to desire for so many years?"**

"Maybe they have changed their minds," suggested Remus lightly.

"You think?" questioned Tonks to him.

"Everyone can change their minds," said the werewolf. "It's all about choice."

"**Of course, my Lord," said Lucius Malfoy. His hand shook as he wiped sweat from his upper lip. "We did desire it – we do."**

**The Malfoy's left, his wife made an odd, stiff nod, her eyes averted from Voldemort and the snake. To his right, his son, Draco,**

"So Malfoy Jr. became a Death Eater," commented Sirius. "Like father, like son."

**who had been gazing up at the inert body overhead, glanced quickly at Voldemort and away again, terrified to make eye contact.**

"Wimp," said Harry.

"**My Lord," said a dark woman halfway down the table, her voice constricted with emotion, "it is an honour to have you here, in our family's house. There can be no higher pleasure."**

Everyone looked disgusted, especially Sirius. "Eurgh, I still can't believe I'm related to her." He said in distaste.

"You know what they say, you can't choose who you're related," said James.

**She sat beside her sister, as unlike her in looks, with her dark hair and heavily lidded eyes, as she was in bearing and demeanor; where Narcissa sat rigid and impassive, Bellatrix leaned toward Voldemort, for mere words could not demonstrate her longing for closeness.**

Looks of disgusts appeared on everyone's faces.

"Too much information," gagged Fred.

"The description scarred my mind, thank you book from the future." scowled George.

"I definitely agree with Sirius," shuddered Tonks. "And to think she's my Aunt."

"**No higher pleasure," repeated Voldemort, his head titled a little to one side as he considered Bellatrix. "That means a great deal, Bellatrix, from you."**

**Her face flooded with colour; her eyes welled with tears of delight.**

"**My Lord knows I speak nothing but the truth!"**

"**No higher pleasure…even compared with the happy event that, I hear, has taken place in your family this week?"**

"What happened?" asked Ron confusingly.

**She stared at him, her lips parted, evidently confused.**

"**I don't know what you mean, my Lord."**

"**I'm talking about your niece, Bellatrix.**

"What about me?" asked Tonks confusingly and curiously.

Hermione read the next line and her eyes widened. She glanced up from the book to look at Tonks and Remus, her cheeks flushing. "Did something bad happen to me?" asked Tonks while frowning.

"I hope not," said Sirius. "You're my favourite cousin, other than Andromeda of course."

Hermione cleared her throat and continued to read the following sentence, knowing for certain that everyone would react strongly.

**And yours, Lucius and Narcissa. She has just married the werewolf, Remus Lupin. You must be so proud."**

Everyone stared at the book first before turning their heads toward Remus and Tonks's direction. Tonks had frozen from her seat, looking completely bewildered. Remus, on the other hand, didn't move an inch and stared at the book in pure shock, his eyes wide open and his mouth partially open. "I – I -" stammered Remus.

"I can't believe this!" shouted Sirius. "You didn't tell me that the two of you are dating!"

"You sly wolf!" said James while grinning widely as Lily hugged the werewolf. "I knew you had it in you!"

"Wow congratulations, Remus," said Harry, "You and Tonks are getting married -"

"Everyone," said Tonks over the noise, "Remus and I aren't dating." Everyone stared at her then at Remus, looking completely dumbfounded. "Really, we're not dating -"

"Stop denying it," said Sirius, "I've seen you two talking together alone -"

"It's just a normal conversation," said Remus exasperatedly. "We're serious – Sirius, not that bad joke – Tonks and I aren't dating,"

"But if you're not dating and not planning on getting married," said Bill, causing the two to blush, "When why is it written in the book? I mean, if you're telling the truth and what's written in the book is also truth, which one's lying?"

"This is getting weirder by the second," said Ron, watching everyone.

"You're not the only one who's getting confused," commented Harry while nodding. "Hermione, keep reading."

**There was an eruption of jeering laughter from around the table. Many leaned forward to exchange gleeful looks; a few thumped the table with their fists.**

"They're even happy for the happy couple," said Sirius without a thought.

Both Remus and Tonks blushed deeply. "We're not a couple!" they protested and blushed again.

"They are really going to end up together," whispered Ginny to Hermione who nodded.

**The great snake, disliking the disturbance, opened its mouth wide and hissed angrily, but the Death Eaters did not hear it, so jubilant were they at Bellatrix and the Malfoys' humiliation. Bellatrix's face, so recently flushed with happiness, had turned an ugly, blotchy red.**

"**She is no niece of ours, my Lord," she cried over the outpouring of mirth. "We – Narcissa and I – have never set eyes on our sister since she married the Mudblood. This brat has nothing to do with either of us, nor any beast she marries."**

"And I'm sure Tonks never acknowledges you lot." Huffed Molly. The others nodded.

"Right you are, Molly," smirked Tonks.

"**What say you, Draco?" asked Voldemort, and though his voice as quiet, it carried clearly through the catcalls and jeers. "Will you babysit the cubs?"**

Remus paled when the word 'cubs' was mentioned and felt more dread inside of him, even if he knew he and Tonks weren't dating or getting married.

**The hilarity mounted; Draco Malfoy looked in terror at his father, who was staring down into his own lap, then caught his mother's eye. She shook her head almost imperceptibly, then resumed her own deadpan stare at the opposite wall.**

"**Enough," said Voldemort. stroking the angry snake. "Enough."**

**And the laughter died at once.**

"**Many of our oldest family trees become a little diseased over time," he said as Bellatrix gazed at him, breathless and imploring. "You must prune yours, must you not, to keep it healthy? Cut away those parts that threaten the health of the rest."**

"They're the ones who will be pruned!" growled James.

Sirius felt guarded; the Potters, Weasleys and the Order members were like his family. He made a promise that he would do anything to protect them all. "I won't let them hurt everyone," he said furiously.

"**Yes, my Lord," whispered Bellatrix, and her eyes swam with tears of gratitude again. "At first chance!"**

"As if," snorted Fred.

"She won't get that chance," hissed Sirius.

"I'll take her down before she could even kill me," said Tonks, her hair changing into flaming red.

"**You shall have it," said Voldemort. "And in your family, so in the world…we shall cut away the canker that infects us until only those of the true blood remain…"**

**Voldemort raised Lucius Malfoy's wand, pointed it directly at the slowly revolving figure suspended over the table, and gave it a tiny flick. The figure came to life with a groan and began to struggle against invisible bonds.**

Everyone gave sad and pitiful looks at the book.

"**Do you recognise our guest, Severus?" asked Voldemort.**

**Snape raised his eyes to the upside-down face. All of the Death Eaters were looking up at the captive now, as though they had been given permission to show curiosity. As she revolved to face the firelight, the woman said in a cracked and terrified voice, "Severus! Help me!"**

Everyone felt a pang inside themselves; they knew that the woman's fate was sealed the moment she was inside Malfoy Manor.

"He won't help her." Said Harry quietly, his words filled with sadness and anger.

"Even if he wanted to, he couldn't." said Dumbledore gravely. "Severus's role must be kept a secret. It is hard but it is necessary."

"**Ah, yes," said Snape as the prisoner turned slowly away again.**

"**And you, Draco?" asked Voldemort, stroking the snake's snout with his wand-free hand. Draco shook his head jerkily. Now that the woman had woken, he seemed unable to look at her anymore.**

"**But you would not have taken her classes." Said Voldemort. "For those of you who do not know, we are joined here tonight by Charity Burbage**

Hermione gasped. "Oh no!" she cried. Tears began welling up from her eyes.

"Who's Charity Burbage?" whispered Nathan who looked quite scared as he listened more to the book.

"She's the Muggle Studies Professor." Said Remus curtly, remembering the optimistic and down-to-earth colleague while he taught at Hogwarts as a DADA professor for one year during Harry's third year.

McGonagall felt ill. She knew Charity well. She was not in her house but she knew her well as soon as she began teaching and replaced Quirell at Muggle Studies professor.

**who, until recently, taught at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."**

**There were small noises of comprehension around the table. A broad, hunched woman with pointed teeth cackled.**

"**Yes…Professor Burbage taught the children of witches and wizards all about Muggles…how they are not so different from us…"**

Hermione sobbed. Even if she attended her class for one year, she had good time learning from her. "What she believes is true…" Instinctively, both Harry and Ron comforted her.

"Oh Charity," said Lily with her eyes tearing up. She had known the woman since third year. She was in Hufflepuff and was considered one of the kind-hearted persons Lily ever met.

**One of the Death Eaters spat on the floor. Charity Burbage revolved to face Snape again.**

"**Severus…please…please…"**

"**Silence," said Voldemort, with another twitch of Malfoy's wand, and Charity fell silent as if gagged. "Not content with corrupting and polluting the minds of Wizarding Children, last week Professor Burbage wrote an impassioned defense of Mudbloods in the **_**Daily Prophet**_**. Wizards, she says, must accept these thieves of their knowledge and magic. The dwindling of the purebloods is, says Professor Burbage, a most desirable circumstance…She would have us all mate with Muggles…or, no doubt…werewolves…"**

**Nobody laughed this time: There was no mistaking the anger and contempt in Voldemort's voice. For the third time, Charity Burbage revolved to face Snape. Tears were pouring from her eyes into her hair. Snape looked back at her, quite impassive, as she turned slowly away from him again.**

Hermione looked at the next two words, staring at it with utter dislike in her eyes. After a moment, she stopped sobbing and went on with contempt as she uttered the spell.

"_**Avada Kedavra.**_**"**

Everyone bowed their heads, saddened by the woman's terrible ending.

**The flash of green light illuminated every corner of the room. Charity fell, with a resounding crash, onto the table below, which trembled and creaked. Several of the Death Eaters leapt back in their chairs. Draco fell out of his onto the floor.**

"**Dinner, Nagini," said Voldemort softly, and the great snake swayed and slithered from his shoulders onto the polished wood.**

"T-that's the end of the chapter," said Hermione, closing the book.

"That isn't a very good chapter," frowned Harry. "And there are some information that are...misleading," he added, glancing at Remus and Tonks, "What's with this book?"

"If you please give me the book for a moment, Miss Granger," said Dumbledore. As he got the book, he skimmed across some of the pages, and a thought entered his mind. "I believe I know why this book is different from what we expected," he said to them after closing the book.

"Why?" asked McGonagall.

"It seems that this book is from a...different dimension wherein Remus and Nymphadora -" Tonks shuddered at the mention of her name, "do have a relationship and got married, Scrimgeour being Prime Minister, and that the Ministry may have been infiltrated by Voldemort and his Death Eaters."

"What?" said Harry looking at him with his eyes wide open.

"A different dimension?" repeated Lily. "You mean -?"

"That there's a different reality where there's another us but may have experienced differently?" finished Remus.

"Yes, that is the most plausible answer regarding this book," nodded Dumbledore.

"Wow," said Sirius in awe. "So there's another amazing moi from another reality?" the others rolled their eyes at him.

"But do you think that it might give us an answer that might lead us to win the war?" questioned Mad-Eye.

"It's better to continue reading the book," said Arthur. "We still have no idea on how to defeat You-Know-Who and maybe, this book will give us the answer."

"I don't mind continue reading the book," piped up Harry. "It's interesting to learn that there's another me from another dimension."

"Yeah, what Dad said is possible," nodded Ron. "It made be different, but it's still the same."

The rest murmured in agreement. "It might be worth the shot," said Bill. "We're not going to lose anything here."

"And besides, we've already started reading." Said James.

"Yes, it's best if we continue reading the book," announced Dumbledore. "So who will read next?"

"I do," said Sirius, surprising everyone. "What? Okay, I'm not a reading type of person like Moony but this is an interesting book." He got the book from Dumbledore, opened the book to find the chapter after the first one, and said, "The next chapter is called _In Memoriam._"

* * *

_**I feel sad for Remus and Tonks, but it's part of humor – sort of.**_

_**A lot of different things happened again. The Prime Minister in this story is still Fudge, Remus and Tonks aren't dating at all, and they're recognizing something different like what's with the plan with moving book-Harry to safety. And yes, Ron and Hermione are together (Ron may have gotten his act together or that Hermione decided to take action).**_

_**Oh I made a little OC named Nathan for the little Potter family. He's ten years old so he hasn't attended Hogwarts yet.**_

_**More to come in the next chapter. Toodles.**_


	3. In Memoriam

"In Memoriam?" repeated Remus, frowning all of a sudden. "Do you think someone we know may have passed away in that reality?"

The others didn't know what to respond. "Possibly," said Tonks slowly. "I'm sure that person is still alive in this world." She turned to Sirius and said, "You should start reading."

"I'm about to," said Sirius.

**Harry was bleeding. **

"What happened to your other self?" asked Ron, glancing at Harry with a raised eyebrow.

"I dunno, can't answer," shrugged Harry but he was curious what happened to his other self.

**Clutching his right hand in his left and swearing under his breath,**

Lily gave her son a scathing look.

Harry returned a sheepish grin. "What's swearing?" asked Nathan innocently.

"We'll answer that later, son," said James in hushed tones.

**he shouldered open his bedroom door. There was a crunch of breaking china. He had trodden on a cup of cold tea that had been sitting on the floor outside his bedroom door.**

**"What the -?"**

**He looked around, the landing of number four, Privet Drive, was deserted. Possibly the cup of tea was Dudley's idea of a clever booby trap. **

Everyone inside the room had confused expressions on their faces. "Privet Drive?" said Lily slowly, her eyes mixed with confusion and shock. "But that's where -"

"What about Privet Drive?" asked Ginny in curiosity. "And who's Dudley?"

"As far as I know, Privet Drive is where…my older sister and her family lives," answered the Potter matriarch hesitantly. "I believe Dudley is her son, my nephew."

Sirius let out a snort. "Should've known your sister, whether in this reality or in another reality, would pick a foul name."

"That's beside the point," said Remus with a deep yet thoughtful look on his face. "Why would the other Harry be staying there at your sister's place?" The question silenced everyone and made them all curious.

"Maybe because Harry is staying with them for vacation?" suggested Hermione. Lily heard her and a hopeful look appeared on her face.

All of the Potters, including Sirius and Remus, looked grimaced. "Possible but doubtful," said James with a scoff. "The Dursleys don't like us – that's an understatement, they hate us. And I'm sure in that reality, they still hate us. I'm just not sure why the other Harry's staying with _them._"

Both Ron and Hermione stared at Harry, expecting him to answer. "I've never met them," he said honestly. "But I've heard some bits about them such as them hating magic -"

"What?" cried the other pureblood wizards and witches.

"They hate magic?" repeated Arthur.

"They consider anything out of the ordinary – what their perspective of ordinary, if I may add – detestable," said James with a faint sneer in his tone. "They like to call us _freaks_, mind you." The last sentence earned angry reactions and outbursts from the others.

"They're like the Malfoys and those Death Eaters," said Sirius distastefully.

"I believe that's enough," said Dumbledore. "If you please, Sirius, continue."

**Keeping his bleeding hand elevated, Harry scraped the fragments of cup together with the other hand and threw them into the already crammed bin just visible inside his bedroom door. Then he tramped across to the bathroom to run his finger under the tap.**

**It was stupid, pointless, irritating beyond belief that he still had four days left of being unable to perform magic…**

Harry's eyes lit up. "He's going to be seventeen in four days?" he said.

"Good on him," grinned Ron. "You have to wait for seven more months until you can use magic." Harry scowled at him and the redhead merely laughed in response. Hermione shook her head at the two.

The other adults smiled at the scene. It was good that despite the war, they were still able to enjoy themselves.

**but he had to admit to himself that this jagged cut in his finger would have defeated him. He had never learned how to repair wounds, and now he came to think of it – particularly in light of his immediate plans – this seemed a serious flaw in his magical education. **

Everyone nodded in agreement. "I've always thought that basic Healing should be taught at Hogwarts," frowned Lily before turning to Dumbledore. "Why isn't there a class for it?"

"I have proposed for it for the last three decades since the last Healer before Poppy suggested," sighed Dumbledore. "But the school governors believe that it's not necessary and only those who are interested in learning the art of Healing will learn when they took the four-year course of Healing at St. Mungos."

McGonagall sniffed in disapproval. "Most of the school governors are there for more than fifty years. All of them have no interest in improving the school's educational system. We professors can only do what is given to us."

"I'm sure we'll be able to change that," said James reassuringly to his wife.

**Making a mental note to ask Hermione how it was done,**

Hermione smiled. "So my other self is friends with Harry?"

Harry grinned. "That's good to know."

**he used a large wad of toilet paper to mop up as much of the tea as he could before returning to his bedroom and slamming the door behind him.**

**Harry had spent the morning completely emptying his school trunk for the first time since he had packed it six years ago. At the start of the intervening school years, he had merely skimmed off the topmost three quarters of the contents and replaced or updated them, leaving a layer of general debris at the bottom – old quills, desiccated beetle eyes, single socks that no longer fit. **

**Minutes previously, Harry had plunged his hand into this mulch, experienced a stabbing pain in the fourth finger of his right hand, and withdrawn it to see a lot of blood.**

"What is your other self putting inside his trunk, hm?" asked Bill amusedly to the raven-haired boy.

**He now proceeded a little more cautiously. Kneeling down beside the trunk again, he groped around in the bottom and, after retrieving an old badge that flickered feebly between SUPPORT CEDRIC DIGGORY and POTTER STINKS,**

"What?" cried both James and Harry while the others were amused. "Excuse me but Potters _do not_ stink," protested James, looking highly offended.

"And we're extremely attractive and talented," added Harry, earning snorts from Ron and Hermione. "What? It's true."

"I don't know who is worse, you or James," said Remus while shaking his head.

"Well, they are father and son," pointed out Kingsley. Tonks let out a laugh.

"I wonder why I ended up with you," said Lily to her husband.

"Because of my dashing looks and great sense of humor?" answered James with a cheeky grin.

Lily decided not to answer and James pouted. The others chuckled and Moody gruffed, "Stop fooling around, we're wasting time as it is."

"You're no fun, Mad-Eye," said Sirius to him before reading again.

**a cracked and worn-out Sneakoscope, and a gold locket inside which a note signed R.A.B. had been hidden, he finally discovered the sharp edge that had done the damage. **

**He recognized it at once. It was a two-inch-long fragment of the enchanted mirror that his**

Sirius stopped reading, staring the next words that he was supposed to utter. Everyone else waiting and as the seconds went by, they began to wonder. "What's wrong, mate?" asked James in worry.

He didn't answer. "Did something happen from the book?" questioned Remus as he tried to take the book from him.

"N-no," breathed Sirius.

Tonks gave him a look and said, "You're lying." She suddenly grabbed the book, much to his surprise, and continued.

**It was a two-inch-long fragment of the enchanted mirror that his dead godfather, Sirius, had given him.**

Everyone fell silent, staring at the book in shock. Tonks dropped it with her eyes opened wide. "You – he – no," she gasped.

They didn't believe what they just heard from the female Auror. Sirius Black, the other one from that reality, was dead and they didn't even know how. Sirius took this information in surprise. He was expecting to read about his other self and what he and his other self have in common.

"How can that be?" questioned James. "He can't just die -"

"That's enough, James," said Sirius suddenly, surprising everyone. It occurred to him that his death wasn't important because there were other matters that were far more important than his life such as defeating Voldemort who was gaining the upper hand for the past year. "It doesn't matter -"

"Of course it does -"

"He's not me, if you know what I mean," he continued. "I'm still alive and he – my other self – may have died to save someone, which if you ask me, I truly care." He gave him, Remus, Lily, Nathan and Harry a confident look and said, "Don't worry, I won't be gone. Not yet. I can't give any promises but I'll try to keep myself alive for your sake -"

"You should be," said Remus. "If you die, I'll bite you during full moon."

Sirius let out a laugh. "Don't be too emotional, Remus. I'll be fine. Now then, I should continue."

**Harry laid it aside and felt cautiously around the trunk for the rest, but nothing more remained of his godfather's last gift except powdered glass, which clung to the deepest layer of debris like glittering grit.**

**Harry sat up and examined the jagged piece on which he had cut himself, seeing nothing but his own bright green eye reflected back at him. Then he placed the fragment on top of that morning's Daily prophet, which lay unread on the bed, and attempted to stem the sudden upsurge of bitter memories, the stabs of regret and of longing the discovery of the broken mirror had occasioned, by attacking the rest of the rubbish in the trunk.**

**It took another hour to empty it completely, throw away the useless items, and sort the remainder in piles according to whether or not he would need them from now on. His school and Quidditch robes, cauldron, parchment, quills, and most of his textbooks were piled in a corner, to be left behind. **

"That sounds as if he's not going to go back," said Arthur with a slight frown.

Lily narrowed her eyes. "Don't tell me Harry's not going back to Hogwarts."

Everyone stared at her, shocked at her words. "Why won't he come back to Hogwarts? It's the safest place to be -" said Harry and both Ron and Hermione voiced out their agreement.

"If you let Black continue with his reading, we'll be able to know the reason," said Moody with a scowl.

**He wondered what his aunt and uncle would do with them; burn them in the dead of night, probably, as if they were evidence of some dreadful crime.**

The Marauders and the Potters let out derisive snorts while the others scowled.

**His Muggle clothing, Invisibility Cloak, potion-making kit, certain books, the photograph album Hagrid had once given him, a stack of letters, and his wand had been repacked into an old rucksack. In a front pocket were the Marauder's Map and the locket with the note signed R.A.B. inside it. The locket was accorded this place of honor not because it was valuable – in all usual senses it was worthless – but because of what it had cost to attain it.**

"What cost?" wondered George to himself.

**This left a sizable stack of newspapers sitting on his desk beside his snowy owl, Hedwig:**

Harry couldn't help but chuckle. "He named her Hedwig. I named mine Ferene." He said fondly, remembering his snowy white owl.

**one for each of the days Harry had spent at Privet Drive this summer.**

**He got up off the floor, stretched, and moved across to his desk. Hedwig made no movement as he began to flick through newspapers, throwing them into the rubbish pile one by one. The owl was asleep or else faking; she was angry with Harry about the limited amount of time she was allowed out of her cage at the moment.**

**Harry sighed sadly, he hated that she was mad at him so close to the end.**

"I know how that feels," mused Harry.

**As he neared the bottom of the pile of newspapers, Harry slowed down, searching for one particular issue that he knew had arrived shortly after he had returned to Privet Drive for the summer; he remembered that there had been a small mention on the front about the resignation of Charity Burbage, the Muggle Studies teacher at Hogwarts. At last he found it. Turning to page ten, he sank into his desk chair and reread the article he had been looking for.**

Sirius stopped again, staring at the capitalized bold words before moving his gaze to Dumbledore. Before anyone began to wonder, he cleared his throat and continued.

**ALBUS DUMBLEDORE REMEMBERED**

**By Elphias Doge**

The reactions were what Sirius had predicted.

"What? That can't be!"

"Dumbledore there can't die!"

"I can't imagine you gone, sir," said Bill to Dumbledore while frowning. "The war is brewing in that reality and without your other self, it'll be hard to win."

"Bill's right," said Tonks. "It's going to be hard and Hogwarts will be invaded by those Death Eaters in no time -" a gasp escaped from her lips and Lily, Remus, Mad-Eye and Kingsley seemed to have caught on. "I now know why Harry's not coming back to Hogwarts – it's because of this!"

"Since there's no Dumbledore, Hogwarts won't be safe anymore," said Hermione in slow realisation. "Oh no -"

"Death Eaters will surely have full reign over the castle," said James angrily.

"The children won't be safe anywhere," fretted Molly who was being calmed down by her husband.

Dumbledore took a sweeping glance over everyone and said, "I'm sure Hogwarts will be fine without me and that the students will be protected."

"By who?" asked Nathan.

"I'm sure Minnie's not going to go away," said James confidently, earning nods from his wife and his friends.

"And the other Hogwarts professors," added Ginny. "All of them will do whatever they can to protect the students -"

McGonagall didn't look abashed but it was noticeable that she was touched by how much faith the others had put her and her other colleagues. "Of course I won't leave Hogwarts," she said stiffly. "We wouldn't leave the students unprotected from the Death Eaters or from You-Know-Who."

**I met Albus Dumbledore at the age of eleven, on our first day at Hogwarts. Our mutual attraction was undoubtedly due to the fact that we both felt ourselves to be outsiders. I had contracted dragon pox shortly before arriving at school, and while** **I was no longer contagious, my pock-marked visage and greenish hue did not encourage many to approach me.**

Dumbledore smiled reminiscently as he remembered the first time he and Doge first met.

**For his part, Albus had arrived at Hogwarts under the burden of unwanted notoriety. Scarcely a year previously, his father, Percival, had been convicted of a savage and well-publicized attack upon three young Muggles.**

Everyone stared at Dumbledore in disbelief. "Why -?" blurted out Ron but both Harry and Hermione elbowed him.

"Please do forgive me if I won't tell," said the headmaster, "I am like any other person – I have many things I do not wish to talk about and this is one of them. But I do believe that it'll be explained in the next couple of chapters." When no one spoke, he gestured Sirius to continue reading.

**Albus never attempted to deny that his father (who was to die in Azkaban) had committed this crime; on the contrary, when I plucked up courage to ask him, he assured me that he knew his father to be guilty. Beyond that, Dumbledore refused to speak of the sad business, though many attempted to make him do so. Some, indeed, were disposed to praise his father's action and assumed that Albus too was a Muggle-hater.**

"Not in a million years," said James while scoffing. He didn't notice, however, that Dumbledore wore a sad expression momentarily before masking it to hide from anyone.

**They could not have been more mistaken: As anybody who knew Albus would attest, he never revealed the remotest anti-Muggle tendency. Indeed, his determined support for Muggle rights gained him many enemies in subsequent years.**

**In a matter of months, however, Albus's own fame had begun to eclipse that of his father. By the end of his first year he would never again be known as the son of a Muggle-hater, but as nothing more or less than the most brilliant student ever seen at the school.**

"No doubt about that," said Remus. Dumbledore, on the other hand, was momentarily saddened as this reminded him of his youth.

**Those of us who were privileged to be his friends benefited from his example, not to mention his help and encouragement, with which he was always generous. He confessed to me later in life that he knew even then that his greatest pleasure lay in teaching.**

**He not only won every prize of note that the school offered, he was soon in regular correspondence with the most notable magical names of the day, including Nicolas Flamel, the celebrated alchemist; Bathilda Bagshot, the noted historian;** **and Adalbert Waffling, the magical theoretician. Several of his papers found their way into learned publications such as Transfiguration Today, Challenges in Charming, and The Practical Potioneer. Dumbledore's future career seemed likely to be meteoric, and the only question that remained was when he would become Minister of Magic.**

Dumbledore chuckled at this. "Never," he said.

"I think you'd make a good Minister," said Tonks thoughtfully.

"Thank for saying those words, but I am and will never be interested to become Minister of Magic even if I was offered the full collection of Chocolate Frogs," he said serenely. The others snorted at his remark.

"But surely you'll be a hundred times better than Fudge," said Sirius. "No offense but he's a bloody coward."

"I believe someone fit for the position will come," responded the headmaster.

**Though it was often predicted in later years that he was on the point of taking the job, however, he never had Ministerial ambitions.**

**Three years after we had started at Hogwarts, Albus's brother, Aberforth, arrived at school. They were not alike: Aberforth was never bookish and, unlike Albus, preferred to settle arguments by dueling rather than through reasoned discussion. **

Everyone looked amused. "I never knew you're brothers with Aberforth," said Fred, staring at Dumbledore in surprise.

"There are hardly any similarities between the two of you," nodded George.

"Yes, we are brothers and we are different," agreed Dumbledore. "He has shown fondness for goats, but I know he has more endearing qualities than I could ever have." This remark earned curious expressions from the others.

**However, it is quite wrong to suggest, as some have, that the brothers were not friends. They rubbed along as comfortably as two such different boys could do. In fairness to Aberforth, it must be admitted that living in Albus's shadow cannot have been an altogether comfortable experience. Being continually outshone was an occupational hazard of being his friend and cannot have been any more pleasurable as a brother.**

Dumbledore mentally disagreed. _That was not the case why he and I do not get along even today,_ he thought morosely.

**When Albus and I left Hogwarts we intended to take the then-traditional tour of the world together, visiting and observing foreign wizards, before pursuing our separate careers. However, tragedy intervened. On the very eve of our trip, Albus's mother, Kendra, died, leaving.**

All of the mothers inside the room looked sad.

**Albus the head, and sole breadwinner, of the family. I postponed my departure long enough to pay my respects at Kendra's funeral, then left for what was now to be a solitary journey. With a younger brother and sister to care for, and little gold left to them, there could no longer be any question of Albus accompanying me.**

**That was the period of our lives when we had least contact. I wrote to Albus, describing, perhaps insensitively, the wonders of my journey, from narrow escapes from chimaeras in Greece to the experiments of the Egyptian alchemists. His letters told me little of his day-to-day life, which I guessed to be frustratingly dull for such a brilliant wizard. Immersed in my own experiences, it was with horror that I heard, toward the end of my year's travels, that another tragedy had struck the Dumbledores: the death of his sister, Ariana.**

"Oh dear," gasped Lily.

**Though Ariana had been in poor health for a long time, the blow, coming so soon after the loss of their mother, had a profound effect on both of her brothers. All those closest to Albus – and I count myself one of that lucky number – agree that Ariana's death, and Albus's feeling of personal responsibility for it (though, of course, he was guiltless), left their mark upon him forevermore.**

Everyone fell silent as they listened about their headmaster's life. They had never wondered his life before was like and they didn't imagine it was like this. But they weren't sure if the other Dumbledore's life was any similar to the Dumbledore they know.

Dumbledore momentarily closed his eyes tiringly. He could remember the scene like it happened just yesterday. Indeed, his life changed ultimately right after his sister's death but he knew deep inside it was before that.

Sirius knew things were getting awkward as he continued to the chapter but he knew that the faster he read it, the faster the awkwardness would be over.

**I returned home to find a young man who had experienced a much older person's suffering. Albus was more reserved than before, and much less light-hearted. To add to his misery, the loss of Ariana had led, not to a renewed closeness between Albus and Aberforth, but to an estrangement. (In time this would lift – in later years they re-established, if not a close relationship, then certainly a cordial one.) However, he rarely spoke of his parents or of Ariana from then on, and his friends learned not to mention them.**

**Other quills will describe the triumphs of the following years. Dumbledore's innumerable contributions to the store of Wizarding knowledge, including his discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, will benefit generations to come, as will the wisdom he displayed in the many judgments while Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. They say, still, that no Wizarding duel ever matched that between Dumbledore and Grindelwald in 1945.**

Dumbeldore grimaced inside. For him, it was the most trying duel he ever had and it was not because of the duel itself but because of the person he duelled.

**Those who witnessed it have written of the terror and the awe they felt as they watched these two extraordinary wizards to battle. **

**Dumbledore's triumph, and its consequences for the Wizarding world, are considered a turning point in magical history to match the introduction of the International Statute of Secrecy or the downfall of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.**

**Albus Dumbledore was never proud or vain; he could find something to value in anyone, however apparently insignificant or wretched, and I believe that his early losses endowed him with great humanity and sympathy. I shall miss his friendship more than I can say, but my loss is nothing compared to the Wizarding world's. That he was the most inspiring and best loved of all Hogwarts headmasters cannot be in question.**

"That's true," said Harry firmly.

"Better than what I've heard about Phineas Nigellus," snorted Sirius.

**He died as he lived: working always for the greater good and, to his last hour, as willing to stretch out a hand to a small boy with dragon pox as he was on the day I met him.**

**Harry finished reading, but continued to gaze at the picture accompanying the obituary. Dumbledore was wearing his familiar, kindly smile, but as he peered over the top of his half-moon spectacles, he gave the impression, even in newsprint, of X-raying Harry, whose sadness mingled with a sense of humiliation.**

**He had thought he knew Dumbledore quite well, but ever since reading this obituary he had been forced to recognize that he had barely known him at all.**

"I don't normally talk about my life," said Dumbledore delicately. "Sometimes, it is best to leave it like that and never dwell on it." The others nodded in assent. They knew what he was talking about and all of them have certain things they wished to be kept inside on their own.

**Never once had he imagined Dumbledore's childhood or youth; it was as though he had sprung into being as Harry had known him, venerable and silver-haired and old. **

"And that is true," agreed the headmaster, nodding toward Harry. "Unlike what most believe, I am just the same as the others."

**The idea of a teenage Dumbledore was simply odd, like trying to imagine a stupid Hermione or a friendly Blast-Ended Skrewt.**

"A stupid Hermione?" repeated Hermione in amusement, raising an eyebrow at Harry.

"Not to mention a kind Blast-Ended Skrewts," snorted Ron. "You must be mental to think of that. Well, your other self I mean."

Harry stuck his tongue at them. "Stuff it, you two."

**He had never thought to ask Dumbledore about his past. No doubt it would have felt strange, impertinent even, but after all it had been common knowledge that Dumbledore had taken part in that legendary duel with Grindelwald, and Harry had not thought to ask Dumbledore what that had been like, nor about any of his other famous achievements. No, they had always discussed Harry, Harry's past, Harry's future, Harry's plans… and it seemed to Harry now, despite the fact that his future was so dangerous and so uncertain, that he had missed irreplaceable opportunities when he had failed to ask Dumbledore more about himself, even though the only personal question he had ever asked his headmaster was also the only one he suspected that Dumbledore had not answered honestly:**

**"What do you see when you look in the mirror?"**

**"I? I see myself holding a pair of thick, woollen socks."**

Some wore bemused expressions while others who knew Dumbledore a bit more chuckled. "Why woollen socks?" asked Nathan curiously to the headmaster.

"Most of the gifts I received every Christmas or my birthday are books," he chuckled.

"You and Hermione should swap places," said Ron jokingly. "She'll be the happiest person in the world – ow!"

"Ronald!" scolded Hermione. Harry and the others laughed.

**After several minutes' thought, Harry tore the obituary out of the Prophet, folded it carefully, and tucked it inside the first volume of Practical Defensive Magic and its Use against the Dark Arts. Then he threw the rest of the newspaper onto the rubbish pile and turned to face the room. It was much tidier. The only things left out of place were today's Daily Prophet, still lying on the bed, and on top of it, the piece of broken mirror.**

**Harry moved across the room, slid the mirror fragment off today's Prophet, and unfolded the newspaper. He had merely glanced at the headline when he had taken the rolled-up paper from the delivery owl early that morning and thrown it aside, after noting that it said nothing about Voldemort. Harry was sure that the Ministry was leaning on the Prophet to suppress news about Voldemort. **

**It was only now, therefore, that he saw what he had missed.**

**Across the bottom half of the front page a smaller headline was set over a picture of Dumbledore striding along, looking harried:**

Sirius stopped and a look of disgust appeared on his face. "Typical, even on that reality…" he muttered in annoyance before he continued to read.

**DUMBLEDORE – THE TRUTH AT LAST?**

"What truth?" questioned Remus with a frown.

**Coming next week, the shocking story of the flawed genius considered by many to be the greatest wizard of his generation. Striping away the popular image of serene, silver-bearded wisdom, Rita Skeeter **

Groans rang across the room after Sirius uttered the name. "Great, now we're going to listen to bloody Goblin crap," said James sardonically.

"James! Watch your words!" hissed Lily as she covered Nathan's ears just in time.

"Sorry," he said apologetically but added, "But you agree with me, don't you? She's a foul, nasty, ugly piece of -"

"Any more colourful words coming out from your mouth, or any other's mouth," said the Potter matriarch, giving a sweeping glance over everyone, "I won't hesitate to Silence you. There's a minor here and I don't want him to learn those words."

"Yet," supplied Tonks. Lily threw a scathing look at her direction. "He's going to learn it eventually when he reaches Hogwarts next year."

"True that," agreed the twins, Ron, Harry and the others.

Lily sighed. Molly patted on her shoulder comfortingly. "I know how you feel," said Molly sympathetically as she remembered when her sons would swear after attending Hogwarts a year or two.

"I think I should continue," said Sirius to everyone. "The faster I read, the better for us not to listen to this abomination."

**reveals the disturbed childhood, the lawless youth, the life-long feuds, and the guilty secrets that Dumbledore carried to his grave, WHY was the man tipped to be the Minister of Magic content to remain a mere headmaster? WHAT was the real purpose of the secret organization known as the Order of the Phoenix? HOW did Dumbledore really meet his end?**

**The answers to these and many more questions are explored in the explosive new biography, The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore, by Rita Skeeter, exclusively interviewed by Berry Braithwaite, page 13, inside.**

**Harry ripped open the paper and found page thirteen.**

"Harry," groaned Remus.

"What? I haven't done it," said Harry defensively.

"I'm not referring to you, it's the other one," said the werewolf to him.

"Oh."

**The article was topped with a picture showing another familiar face: a woman wearing jeweled glasses with elaborately curled blonde hair, her teeth bared in what was clearly supposed to be a winning smile, wiggling her fingers up at him. Doing his best to ignore this nauseating image, Harry read on.**

**In person, Rita Skeeter is much warmer and softer than her famously ferocious quill-portraits might suggest.**

"Right," scoffed Tonks. "If that were true, I'd eat a whole rock cake of Hagrid's."

"I doubt you can, Tonks," said Kingsley to her.

The female Auror smacked her fellow colleague on the arm. "You know what I mean, Kingsley!"

Sirius leaned over to Remus and whispered teasingly, "Jealous?"

Remus elbowed him hard on the side. "Keep reading, Padfoot."

**Greeting me in the hallway of her cozy home, she leads me straight into the kitchen for a cup of tea, a slice of pound cake and, it goes without saying, a steaming vat of freshest gossip.**

**"Well, of course, Dumbledore is a biographer's dream," says Skeeter. "Such a long, full life. I'm sure my book will be the first of very, very many."**

**Skeeter was certainly quick off the mark. Her nine-hundred-page book was completed in a mere four weeks after Dumbledore's mysterious death in June. I ask her how she managed this superfast feat.**

**"Oh, when you've been a journalist as long as I have, working to a deadline is second nature. I knew that the Wizarding world was clamouring for the full story and I wanted to be the first to meet that need."**

"Yeah right that's what Skeeter wants," snarled James but blinked in surprise as he noticed he could speak again.

**I mention the recent, widely publicized remarks of Elphias Doge, Special Advisor to the Wizengamot and longstanding friend of Albus Dumbledore's, that "Skeeter's book contains less fact than a Chocolate Frog card."**

**Skeeter throws back her head and laughs.**

**"Darling Dodgy! I remember interviewing him a few years back about merpeople rights, bless him. Completely gaga, seemed to think we were sitting at the bottom of Lake Windermere, kept telling me to watch out for trout."**

**And yet Elphias Doge's accusations of inaccuracy have been echoed in many places. Does Skeeter really feel that four short weeks have been enough to gain a full picture of Dumbledore's long and extraordinary life?**

"Even in a whole year, she's won't get the full picture of Dumbledore's life," said Remus.

"It may depend where she gets the information," said Moody gruffly, earning incredulous looks from the others. "We all know most of her writings came from facts which she stretches it to her liking."

"Who's willing to give her information?" frowned Bill. "I doubt anyone who knows Dumbledore would give any information to her."

"Which leads us to think that she used an illegal tactic to get information," said James seriously.

"That may be possible but that's not important," said Arthur. "I think it's best if we let Sirius continue."

**"Oh, my dear," beams Skeeter, rapping me affectionately across the knuckles, "you know as well as I do how much information can be generated by a fat bag of Galleons, a refusal to hear the word 'no,' and a nice sharp Quick-Quotes Quill! People were queuing to dish the dirt on Dumbledore anyway. Not everyone thought he was so wonderful, you know – he trod on an awful lot of important toes. But old Dodgy Doge can get off his high hippogriff, because I've had access to a source most journalists would swap their wands for, one who has never spoken in public before and who was close to Dumbledore during the most turbulent and disturbing phase of his youth."**

**The advance publicity for Skeeter's biography has certainly suggested that there will be shocks in store for those who believe Dumbledore to have led a blameless life. **

**What were the biggest surprises she uncovered, I ask?**

**"Now, come off it. Betty, I'm not giving away all the highlights before anybody's bought the book!" laughs Skeeter. "But I can promise that anybody who still thinks Dumbledore was white as his beard is in for a rude awakening! Let's just say that nobody hearing him rage against You-Know-Who would have dreamed that he dabbled in the Dark Arts himself in his youth!**

"That's a load of bull -" exclaimed James but Lily took her wand out and used a Silencing Charm against him.

"James, I've already warned you," said Lily with a hard stare. Her husband pouted at her and opened and closed his mouth repeating as if talking with his voice back. "No, I won't undo the spell if you behave."

The others chuckled at the sight of the two. Hermione had a thoughtful look on her face and said aloud, "Is it really bad to study about the Dark Arts? It's not like you're actually going to use it."

"Good question," nodded Bill. "Personally speaking, I don't think there's anything wrong about reading it -"

"What? But it's the Dark Arts – it's illegal," said Ron indignantly.

"Yes, it is illegal," he agreed calmly. "But it's up to the person what he wants to do with the knowledge."

Moody grunted in approval. "In order to fight the Dark Arts, one must know what it is all about. However, some don't think it's necessary," he sent sharp looks toward James and Sirius' directions. "I'm telling you, you can't survive unless you know what they are."

"You haven't read any Dark Arts?" asked Harry in surprise, thinking that since Sirius came from a Dark Arts supporting family, he would know a couple of things.

"Nah," responded his godfather. "I wasn't interested and I always find ways to avoid learning them. But that's beside the point," he turned to Dumbledore and asked, "Did you really dabble in the Dark Arts when you're young? Well, I'm not sure about your other self but I'd like to know if you did poke some -" The moment he asked, everyone fell silent and watched Dumbledore, expecting his answer.

Dumbledore smiled vaguely. "I did study sometime during my early adulthood -" others looked surprised while the Aurors nodded, and McGonagall didn't look surprised at all. "But not during my Hogwarts years. Unlike the first Wizarding war and this time, learning magic even to what most of younger generation believed today to be illegal weren't in my time. It only became to be because it was excessively misused."

"But that was until Grindelwald tried to conquer whole of Europe?" asked Hermione eagerly, wanting to learn more.

The headmaster's expression shifted for a mere second but nodded, "Yes. After I defeated him, regulations for some of the spells mostly used were made by the Ministry and eventually classified them as Dark Arts."

**And for a wizard who spent his later years pleading for tolerance, he wasn't exactly broad-minded when he was younger! Yes, Albus Dumbledore had an extremely murky past, not to mention that very fishy family, which he worked so hard to keep hushed up."**

"Like someone would believe in that," Ginny rolled her eyes.

**I ask whether Skeeter is referring to Dumbledore's brother, Aberforth, whose conviction by the Wizengamot for misuse of magic caused a minor scandal fifteen years ago.**

**"Oh, Aberforth is just the tip of the dung heap," laughs Skeeter. "No, no, I'm talking about much worse than a brother with a fondness for fiddling about with goats, worse even than the Muggle-maiming father – Dumbledore couldn't keep either of them quiet anyway, they were both charged by the Wizengamot. No, it's the mother and the sister**

Dumbledore's expression, much to the surprise of some who noticed, darkened.

**that intrigued me, and a little digging uncovered a** **positive nest of nastiness – but, as I say, you'll have to wait for chapters nine to twelve for full details. All I can say now is, it's no wonder Dumbledore never talked about how his nose got broken."**

The younger students sneaked glances toward their headmaster's crooked nose.

**Family skeletons notwithstanding, does Skeeter deny the brilliance that led to Dumbledore's many magical discoveries?**

**"He had brains," she concedes, "although many now question whether he could really take full credit for all of his supposed achievements. As I reveal in chapter sixteen, Ivor Dillonsby claims he had already **

**But the importance of some of Dumbledore's achievements cannot, I venture, be denied. What of his famous defeat of Grindelwald?**

**"Oh, now, I'm glad you mentioned Grindelwald," says Skeeter with such a tantalizing smile. "I'm afraid those who go dewy-eyed over Dumbledore's spectacular victory must brace themselves for a bombshell – or perhaps a Dungbomb. Very dirty business indeed. All I'll say is, don't be so sure that there really was a spectacular duel of legend. After they've read my book, people may be forced to conclude that Grindelwald simply conjured a white handkerchief from the end of his wand and came quietly!"**

Snarls and protests rang across the room. "That's not what happened!" said James indignantly. "My father witnessed what happened and it was bloody -"

"James!" cried Lily as she covered Nathan's ears again.

"- brilliant! Dumbledore saved both the Muggle and wizarding community all over Europe!" finished the Potter patriarch passionately. The other adults murmured in agreement.

As everyone conversed what happened about the well-known duel, Dumbledore replayed the scene in his inside. No one knew how hard it was for him to duel someone such as Grindelwald. It was not skill, experience or talent that made him believe it was hard. Rather, it was the connection he had with the man that caused him to struggle throughout the whole duel. He cherished the memories and moments they had together however tragedy tore it all into pieces.

"All right, that's enough talk," said Sirius over the chatter, stopping everyone and even Dumbledore's thoughts. "I'm almost done with the chapter. Thank Merlin."

**Skeeter refuses to give any more away on this intriguing subject, so we turn instead to the relationship that will undoubtedly fascinate her readers more than any other.**

**"Oh yes," says Skeeter, nodding briskly, "I devote an entire chapter to the whole Potter-Dumbledore relationship.** **It's been called unhealthy, even sinister.**

"Eurgh!" blanched the men except for Kingsley and Moody. Harry, upon hearing the sentence, was now gagging.

"That's nasty!" said Ron in disgust.

"I do agree, Mr. Weasley," nodded the headmaster in assent while frowning.

**Again, your readers will have to buy my book for the whole story, but there is no question that Dumbledore took an unnatural interest in Potter from the word go. Whether that was really in the boy's best interests – well, we'll see. It's certainly an open secret that Potter has had a most troubled adolescence."**

"You mean like dating girls and snogging?" suggested George.

"Oh, don't you remember when ickle Harrykins dated Parvati Patil? Didn't end well, did it?" sniggered Fred.

"And how about with Lisa Turpin? Shame that didn't end nicely with what happened -"

"That's enough, you two," interrupted Harry as his cheeks burned slightly red. "There's no need to mention what goes on with my life -"

"But it's interesting," said the twins in unison, grinning mischievously. "Everyone wants to have a piece of the Boy-Who-Lived – even better with the drama and mayhem created just by being you!"

"Just stuff it, you two," he said flatly to the two and ignoring the amused looks from his parents, Remus and godfather. "Not even you two," he added with a hard glare to Ron and Hermione who were wearing knowing looks on their faces.

Nathan looked at him, disgusted. "Why? They have cooties!" he said and the females inside supressed their giggles.

Shaking his head, amused, Sirius continued to read.

**I ask whether Skeeter is still in touch with Harry Potter, whom she so famously interviewed last year: a breakthrough piece in which Potter spoke exclusively of his conviction that You-Know-Who had returned.**

**"Oh, yes, we've developed a closer bond," says Skeeter. "Poor Potter has few real friends, and we met at one of the most testing moments of his life – the Triwizard Tournament. I am probably one of the only people alive who can say that they know the real Harry Potter."**

"I'm sure my other self disagrees with that," scoffed Harry.

**Which leads us neatly to the many rumors still circulating about Dumbledore's final hours. Does Skeeter believe that Potter was there when Dumbledore died?**

**"Well, I don't want to say too much – it's all in the book – but eyewitnesses inside Hogwarts castle saw Potter running away from the scene moments after Dumbledore fell, jumped, or was pushed. Potter later gave evidence against**

Sirius stared at the next couple of words in utter shock and bellowed, "I knew that slimeball was behind all of it!"

"What are you raving about?" questioned Remus, giving Sirius a look.

"Snivellus!" he said loudly, earning more curious looks from the others. "He bloody murdered Dumbledore!" his words caused an eruptions of protests and questions and James was now ranting at the top of his lungs along with Sirius.

Harry couldn't believe it; he greatly disliked Snape but it wasn't as much as his father or Sirius. But hearing this made his blood boil instantly. He was about to voice out his thoughts when Dumbledore spoke. "Settle down, everyone," he said in his calm yet deep voice. The moment his words let out, everyone did what he said. "I know all of you are thinking the same but my stand stays true; Severus is with us -"

"How do you even know?" demanded James, earning nods from the others. "For all we know, he could be plotting against -"

"I trust him," said Dumbledore definitely. "as he trusts me. I can assure you, he will not betray us. I have his word -"

"What can his word do when in fact your other self is already dead by his wand?" spat Sirius. "I don't even know why you're still defending him – he's a De -"

"That's enough, Sirius," said the headmaster firmly, steadying his gaze on him.

Sirius sat stiffly and nodded. He picked up the book and took a deep breath. "All right, I'll keep reading." He said surly, much to everyone's relief. They knew that from the tone Dumbledore used, the argument was over.

**Severus Snape, a man against whom he has a notorious grudge. Is everything as it seems? **

"I have to agree on that," muttered James with a frown, glancing over to Dumbledore.

**That is for the Wizarding community to decide – once they've read my book."**

**On that intriguing note, I take my leave. There can be no doubt that Skeeter has quilled an instant bestseller. Dumbledore's legion of admirers, meanwhile, may well be trembling at what is soon to emerge about their hero.**

**Harry reached the bottom of the article, but continued to stare blankly at the page. Revulsion and fury rose in him like vomit; he balled up the newspaper and threw it, with all his force, at the wall, where it joined the rest of the rubbish heaped around his overflowing bin.**

"Where it belongs in the first place," nodded Hermione.

**He began to stride blindly around the room, opening empty drawers and picking up books only to replace them on the same piles, barely conscious of what he was doing, as random phrases from Rita's article echoed in his head: An entire chapter to the whole Potter-Dumbledore relationship ... It's been called unhealthy, even sinister ... He dabbled in the Dark Arts himself in his youth ... I've had access to a source most journalists would swap their wands for...**

Harry sighed. "Don't believe in them, they're just a bunch of lies," he said frustratingly but he knew that if he were in his other self's place, there would be a likely chance he would be thinking along the same lines.

**"Lies!" Harry bellowed, and through the window he saw the next-door neighbour, who had paused to restart his lawn mower, look up nervously.**

**Harry sat down hard on the bed. The broken bit of mirror danced away from him; he picked it up and turned it over in his fingers, thinking, thinking of Dumbledore and the lies with which Rita Skeeter was defaming him...**

"A usual occurrence to anyone she wants to poke her nose into their business," said Arthur dryly.

Kingsley nodded. "I do wonder how she gets her information. It might be illegal -"

"and if it is, then we can haul her to Azkaban," said James resolutely.

"That's a nice thought," mused Ginny who was never a fan of the witch after reading some of her articles from the Daily Prophet.

**A flash of brightest blue. Harry froze, his cut finger slipping on the jagged edge of the mirror again. He had imagined it, he must have done. He glanced over his shoulder, but the wall was a sickly peach color of Aunt Petunia's choosing: There was nothing blue there for the mirror to reflect. He peered into the mirror fragment again, and saw nothing but his own bright green eye looking back at him.**

Most of the people inside were mildly confused, but some shared glances at this was mentioned.

**He had imagined it, there was no other explanation; imagined it, because he had been thinking of his dead headmaster. If anything was certain, it was that the bright blue eyes of Albus Dumbledore would never pierce him again.**

"And that's the end of the chapter," finished Sirius as he closed the book. "What's the time now?"

"It's fifteen past ten in the evening," said James as he checked the time. "It's bed time for you, junior," he said to Nathan who pouted.

"But I still want to read!" protested the youngest Potter. "I'm not yet sleepy -" on cue, he let out a yawn.

Both Lily and James chuckled. "Come on dear, let's get you to bed," Lily said softly as she stood up. Nathan didn't want to but after a few moments, he surrendered as he was feeling quite sleepy and tired.

As the two left, the others began chatting about the chapter. "It's going to be harder for them without Dumbledore, I imagine," said Arthur slowly. "Mostly likely either Mad-Eye or Kingsley in that reality will take lead and considering that the Ministry may have been infiltrated by You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters, it's going to be tough on their part."

"That thought made me think about our Ministry," frowned Tonks. "Do you think that the Ministry here is still not yet infiltrated?"

"There's no suspicious activity happening as far as we see and know," said Kingsley deeply. "We'll just have to keep our eyes open and be ready."

Moody grunted in approval. "We can't always depend on the Ministry. Remember, CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" he roared and the people near him jumped in surprise. Dumbledore chuckled as the sight of their faces.

"By the way," said Fred loudly. "Where's Snape anyway?"

"Fred, don't be rude -" scolded Molly to her son.

"What? I'm no longer a student," he pointed out.

"That's a very good question," nodded James before facing Dumbledore. "Where is he anyway? He was here when you announced about the book -"

"He couldn't come because he was summoned," answered the headmaster and everyone knew at once what he was saying; Snape was somewhere with Voldemort and the Death Eaters. "He might return in a day or two."

Sirius snorted derisively. "Possibly telling his beloved master about it."

Everyone inside the room continued to talk amongst each other until it was decided that it was best to rest and continue reading. Dumbledore, McGonagall, Moody, Kingsley and even Tonks (Sirius insisted she could stay over) flooed out of Grimmauld Place to their homes.

Harry was surprisingly quiet as they walked out of the room, thinking what he just heard. He couldn't exactly understand much what his other self was feeling, especially about knowing Dumbledore's past. It might have been interesting to say the least but he couldn't see what was so important about it. He didn't understand why the other Harry was frustrated and keen about the matter but he knew that in the coming chapters, he would learn eventually what it was all about. Right now, all he knew was that his other self was more serious and viewed everything differently from him although he could see some similarities.

"You all right, mate?" asked Ron, stopping Harry's thoughts.

"Yeah – well, not really," he shrugged. "He's different than I expected."

Both Hermione and Ron knew at once what Harry meant. "That's the case with another reality, Harry," said Hermione to him. "There is a likely possibility that your other self is different from you. You two are one and the same but different altogether."

"That's a bit confusing, isn't it?" pointed out Ron.

Hermione shot him a look. "You know what I'm talking about, Ronald. Anyway, we'll get to read the book more tomorrow so we may know a lot about the other Harry -"

"- and hopefully our other selves might appear," grinned the redhead.

A small smile appeared on Harry's lips. "That'll be nice," he said. "Let's go to sleep."

* * *

_**Here's the next chapter. I'm sorry if it took so long. I really don't like this chapter and the fact that I made the third chapter first than this one says a lot. Anyway, I'm so pleased that a lot of you are interested in this type of "Reading the Books". I know there's one other story like this but I doubt it's still being continued.**_

_**Anyway, I'd rather if AU!Harry is different from Canon!Harry because personally speaking, it'll be boring if they're similar. So I made Harry here more similar to James and Sirius but has more sense than those two. He may or may not be into pranking as much the Marauders or the twins are but he has a different sense of humor than Canon!Harry has who mostly jokes about himself about getting hurt and such. Also, AU!Harry may not understand what Canon!Harry is feeling because they are, obviously, not the same. AU!Harry cannot empathize with his other self due to the experience they have and the environment they lived in. AU!Harry was raised with his parents and close friends while Canon!Harry didn't until he entered Hogwarts where he believed was his first home.**_

_**And yes, I've decided to choose a different name for Harry's owl to show more difference between him and Canon!Harry. Ferene is made out of two Latin(?) words – Fe meaning trust or belief and rene from Durene meaning persevere. I'm not sure if that's correct but to those who know Latin more, just let me know all right?  
**_

_**Question though, do you think I should let Regulus be alive or not? Mind you, I've decided to kill off some characters (mostly supporting but you know them since they're been mentioned once in a while). And I've hinted that Cedric is alive in the previous chapter. **_


	4. Dursleys Departing

"I can't believe the other Dumbledore died," said Sirius. "He's Dumbledore." It was past eleven in the night, and the whole Grimmauld Place was quiet. Sirius and James were still in the study room, contemplating with the events that had happened from another dimension.

James sighed. "I know. It would be very unreal if that were to happen to us," he stared at the mug in his hand and placed it on the nearest table. "I still don't get it why Dumbledore still believes that Snape is on our side. I mean, what if Snape here will do that to him someday?"

"It's really confusing, isn't it?" frowned Sirius. "Other Snape, or Dumbledore, and another Harry, all in a different reality or dimension or whatever the other place is."

"Yeah, but still," he glanced at Sirius, and his insides squirmed unpleasantly.

Sirius noticed his friend staring at him and realised what he was thinking, "I won't die," he said to him calmly. "Not yet, though." He added. "Harry here still needs me and I'm sure everyone will miss me if I'm gone -"

"Don't talk like that," James cut across him. "You're not going to die. You will die when you're really old, wrinkly, and smell like dog poo."

"Yeah right," laughed Sirius. "I might. Who knows?"

They heard a knock from the door and Remus entered, looking tired but still fully awake. "Talking without me?" he asked them while walking toward their places.

"Just about what we read," said James. "So you and Tonks aren't really dating?" he questioned his werewolf friend, eyeing him closely with a sly grin on his face.

Remus scowled at them. "No James, we're not dating at all."

"But do you want to date my dear cousin Dora now, don't you?" said Sirius quickly to him, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. "Mind you, if you two are, I will have to give you the old speech -"

"No," said Remus firmly. "I do not want to date her – besides, I'm too old for her – it's odd -"

"Age doesn't matter when it comes to love," said James dismissively.

"- and I don't have anything to give her if ever we do get together looking at a financial perspective -"

"- material possessions aren't important when someone is in love," said Sirius. "Even I don't know what it actually feels like to love someone like Prongs here to Lily flower." He added thoughtfully.

"- and no one's in their right mind to date me – I'm dangerous, I'm a werewolf -"

"It's just a furry little problem," said James and Sirius together. "No big deal."

Remus shook his head, taking a seat from the nearest sofa. "You don't understand. It's just impossible. I don't even understand what my other self is thinking -"

"Maybe because he decided to man up and not be depressed about himself?" said Sirius suggestively. "Yeah, that's it. The other Moony decided he wants to be happy and he sees himself with the other Dora. Really, there's nothing wrong with that."

"What he's doing is selfish," argued Remus.

"There's nothing wrong being selfish for once," said James quietly to him. "Loving someone isn't wrong or right. You love someone because you love." He drank the rest of the contents of his mug and said to him, "Tell me Remus, do you want to have a family of your own?"

Remus looked down, staring at the carpet between his feet. "...yes," he whispered. For a long time, Remus dreamed of having a family of his own but due to his condition, he felt it would do more harm than good and even if he didn't dare say it to his friends, he was scared of having one at the same time.

"Then if you found someone who can give you that, why not take the chance?" asked Sirius. "Think about it," he checked the time on the wall clock and realised it was quarter till midnight. "Come on, it's getting late. And Mrs. Potter might be looking for her dear husband."

"Let's go Remus," said James softly to his other friend.

Remus stood up from the sofa and followed his two friends out of the study room, thinking.

* * *

The following day, everyone woke up feeling a bit confused with what they've learned from the book. They still haven't found what they needed to know in order to defeat Voldemort but it was fine as they believed they shouldn't rush things. Everyone ate breakfast that Lily and Molly made for everyone and when they were all done, they all went back inside the study room.

Lily and Molly were the last to enter since they finished cleaning the dishes (using magic to speed things up) and everyone settled down. Remus and Tonks found themselves sitting next with each other and felt awkward because of the book.

"So who's next to read?" asked Ron who was the last one to read the book last night.

"I want to read it this time," said Harry to him. He found the third chapter and said aloud, "The third chapter is titled _The Dursleys Departing._"

"Wonderful chapter, I can tell," said Sirius who didn't like Petunia at all.

"Go on Harry, read it now so Sirius can shut up," said Remus casually as Sirius shouted 'Oi!'.

**The sound of the front door slamming echoed up the stairs and a voice yelled, "Oi! You!"**

**Sixteen years of being addressed thus left Harry in no doubt whom his uncle was calling; nevertheless, he did not immediately respond.**

Everyone frowned. Both Lily and the Marauders were scowling as they remembered the Dursleys. "He has a name," muttered Lily angrily.

"But I wonder," whispered Remus to James's ear, "Why is Harry staying there with them and not with his family or anyone else?"

Remus's question left James with his own mind spinning like a top. "We've asked that and I think we'll be able to get that answer in this chapter," he said firmly.

**He was still gazing the mirror fragment in which, for a split second, he had thought he saw Dumbledore's eye. It was not until his uncle bellowed, "BOY!" that Harry got slowly to his feet and headed for the bedroom door, pausing to add the piece of broken mirror to the rucksack filled with things he would be taking with him.**

"**You took your time!" roared Vernon Dursley when Harry appeared at the top of the stairs. "Get down here, I want a word!"**

"How rude!" said McGonagall, her nose flaring.

Molly nodded. "They're the rudest family I've ever heard of, and I could even tell the Malfoys have better etiquette than that." The others couldn't help but agree with her.

**Harry strolled downstairs, his hands deep in his jeans pockets. When he reached the living room he found all three Dursleys. They were dressed for travelling: Uncle Vernon in a fawn zip-up jacket, Aunt Petunia in a neat salmon-colored coat, and Dudley, Harry's large, blond, muscular cousin, in his leather jacket.**

"**Yes?" asked Harry.**

"**Sit down!" said Uncle Vernon. Harry raised his eyebrows. "Please!" added Uncle Vernon, wincing slightly as though the word was sharp in his throat.**

"I'm sure it does hurt," snorted Sirius.

"Politeness is not part of his dictionary, it seems," said Hermione stiffly who didn't like the Dursleys at all since the first paragraph, especially Vernon Dursley. She couldn't believe that there were people like that, almost as awful as the Malfoys or any pureblood-discriminating wizarding family.

**Harry sat. He thought he knew what was coming. His uncle began to pace up and down, Aunt Petunia and Dudley following his movements with anxious expressions. Finally, his large purple face crumpled with concentration, Uncle Vernon stopped in front of Harry and spoke.**

"**I've changed my mind," he said.**

"**What a surprise," said Harry.**

"He sounds sarcastic," commented Harry in amusement before he continued.

"**Don't you take that tone -" began Aunt Petunia in a shrill voice, but Vernon Dursley waved her down.**

"**It's a lot of claptrap," said Uncle Vernon, glaring at Harry with piggy little eyes. "I've decided I don't believe a word of it. We're staying put, we're not going anywhere."**

"I think I have an idea why they're leaving," said Moody.

"Do we have to know?" questioned Sirius. "It doesn't really matter, they're just Dursleys."

**Harry looked up at his uncle and felt a mixture of exasperation and amusement. Vernon Dursley had been changing his mind every twenty-four hours for he past four weeks, packing and unpacking and repacking his car with every change of heart. Harry's favorite moment had been the one when Uncle Vernon, unaware of Dudley had added his dumbbells to his case since the last it had been unpacked, had attempted to hoist it back into the boot and collapsed with roars of pain and much swearing.**

Everyone chuckled. "That sounds very nice," sniggered George.

"**According to you," Vernon Dursley said now, resuming his pacing up and down the living room, "we – Petunia, Dudley and I – are in danger. From – from -"**

"**Some of 'my lot,' right," said Harry.**

Most of the occupants of the room looked outraged, specifically the adults. "Some of 'our lot?'" repeated Tonks. "Who does he think he is?"

"If I see them, I won't hesitate to hex them into oblivion," growled Bill who hardly was the type of person to get angry easily.

"**Well, I don't believe it," repeated Uncle Vernon, coming to a halt in front of Harry again. "I was awake half of the night thinking it all over and I believe it's a plot to get the house."**

"What house?" repeated Ron, frowning.

"**The house?" repeated Harry. "What house?"**

"It seems that Ronniekins and the other Harry think alike," said Fred.

"There's nothing wrong with that," said Ron whose ears turned into a shade of red.

"_**This**_** house!" shrieked Uncle Vernon, the vein in his forehead starting to pulse. "**_**Our**_** house! House prices are skyrocketing around here! You want us out of the way then you're going to do a bit of hocus-pocus and before we know it the deeds will be in your name and -"**

"That's stupid," said Hermione while rolling her eyes.

"**Are you out of your mind?" demanded Harry. "A plot to get this house? Are you actually stupid as you look?"**

"Blimey, your other self has guts," said Fred in awe at Harry.

Harry chuckled. "I know. I might get hexed here if I talked like that," he said, glancing at his mother and father.

"You won't," said Sirius reassuringly. "They deserve it."

"**Don't you dare -!" squealed Aunt Petunia, but again, Vernon waved her down: Slights on his personal appearance were, it seemed, as nothing to the danger he had spotted.**

"**Just in case you've forgotten," said Harry, "I've already got a house, my godfather left me one. So why would I want this one? All the happy memories?"**

Everyone looked curious and tense, especially Lily and James. _What does he mean by that?_

**There was silence. Harry thought he had rather impressed his uncle with this argument.**

"**You claim," said Uncle Vernon, starting to pace again yet again, "that this Lord Thing -"**

The Marauders and the twins snickered. "We should try calling him that," chuckled James.

"He doesn't exactly look human anyway," agreed Sirius.

"We have other names for him," grinned Fred. "Like Lord Moldywarts -"

"- Lord Smoldypants -" added George with a grin.

"- He-Who-Must-Get-A-Life -" supplied Fred.

"- Lord Paedophile,"

"- You-Know-Poo -"

"I believe we already heard enough," interrupted Lily but the corners of her lips twitched upwards. "Please continue reading, Harry."

"**- Voldemort," said Harry impatiently, "and we've been through this about a hundred times already. This isn't a claim, it's fact, Dumbledore told you last year, Kingsley and Mr. Weasley -"**

"So our other selves visited Harry," noted Arthur with a small smile.

"They're on first name basis as well," said Kingsley amusedly.

**Vernon Dursley hunched his shoulders angrily, and Harry guessed that his uncle was attempting to ward off recollections of the unannounced visit, a few days into Harry's summer holidays, of two fully grown wizards. The arrival on the doorstep of Kingsley Shacklebolt and Arthur Weasley had come as a most unpleasant shock to the Dursleys.**

"Good to know," said Sirius.

**Harry had to admit, however, that as Mr. Weasley had once demolished half of the living room, his reappearance could not have been expected to delight Uncle Vernon.**

Everyone laughed at this. Molly shot a glare at her husband who said nervously, "I didn't do it! It's the other me!"

"Excellent!" the twins said happily. "Now we know you're our dad!"

"Although it's the other dad who did it," added George.

"I haven't done it yet!" insisted Arthur.

"Are you planning on doing it?" questioned Molly with her eyes narrowed.

"N-no," said Arthur, "But I do believe I did it for a reason not because I wanted to, or so what my other self thought."

"**- Kingsley and Mr. Weasley explained it all as well," Harry pressed on remorselessly, "Once I'm seventeen, the protective charm that keeps me safe will break, and that exposes you as well as me. The Order is sure Voldemort will target you, whether to torture you to try and find out where I am, or because he thinks by holding you hostage I'd come and try to rescue you."**

"And that's the reason," growled Moody.

"I doubt the other Harry would save them," said Sirius.

Harry stared the words and without thinking, he said, "I'm sure my other self will save them. It's how he is."

"Really?" asked Ron, watching his friend.

"Yeah," nodded Harry. "Even if I'm not sure what my other self is really like, I know that he would save them – they're his relatives even if they do not like each other."

Lily smiled proudly of her son. "And you are like that as well, Harry."

**Uncle Vernon and Harry's eyes met. Harry was sure that in an instant they were both wondering the same thing.**

"He'll still save their arses," said James wryly.

**Then Uncle Vernon walked on and Harry resumed, "You've got to go into hiding and the Order wants to help. You're being offered serious protection, the best there is."**

**Uncle Vernon said nothing, but continued to pace up and down. Outside the sun hung low over the privet edges. The next-door neighbor's lawn mower stalled again.**

"**I thought there was a Ministry of Magic?" asked Vernon Dursley abruptly.**

"That's surprising," said Lily. "He wouldn't dare to say that word or acknowledge anything that relates to us."

"The book gives us a lot of surprises," said Remus.

"**There is," said Harry, surprised.**

"**Well, then, why can't they protect us? It seems to me that, as innocent victims, guilty of nothing more than harbouring a marked man, we ought to qualify for government protection!"**

**Harry laughed; he could not help himself. It was so very typical of his uncle to put his hopes in the establishment, even within this world that he despised and mistrusted.**

"Your other self has a weird sense of humour going on," said Ron to Harry.

Harry shrugged. "It is sort of funny."

"Stop interrupting Harry, Ron," said Hermione to him.

"**You heard what Mr. Weasley and Kingsley said," Harry replied. "We think the Ministry has been infiltrated."**

**Uncle Vernon strode to the fireplace and back, breathing so heavily that his great black mustache rippled, his face still purple with concentration.**

"**All right," he said, stopping in front of Harry yet again, "All right, let's say, for the sake of argument, we accept this protection. I still don't see why we can't have that Kingsley bloke."**

Kingsley had a mixture of surprise and amusement on his face as the others turned to stare at him.

"It seems that they've taken a liking of you, King," said James with a chuckle.

"Kingsley is a very likable person," nodded Tonks and earned a questioning look from Remus. "What? It's true."

Dumbledore and some of the others seemed to have noticed their interaction and hid a smile.

**Harry managed not to roll his eyes, but with difficulty. This question had also been addressed half a dozen times.**

"**As I've told you," he said through gritted teeth, "Kingsley is protecting the Mug – I mean, your Prime Minister."**

"**Exactly – he's the best!" said Uncle Vernon, pointing at the blank television screen.**

"Thanks for the compliment," said Kingsley. "I'm sure my other self will be pleased."

"I'm impressed," said Lily to the Auror. "The Dursleys are hard to please."

"It seems that you're the only wizard they approve of," chuckled Dumbledore.

**The Dursleys had spotted Kingsley on the news, walking along discreetly behind the Muggle Prime Minister as he visited the hospital. This, and the fact that Kingsley had mastered the knack of dressing like a Muggle, not to mention a certain reassuring something in his slow, deep voice, had caused the Dursleys to take to Kingsley in a way that they had certainly not done with any other wizard, although it was true that they had never seen him with his earring in.**

"Ah, you reached their standards," nodded Tonks. "As always King,"

"Just doing my job," said Kingsley to her.

Remus watched them and felt an odd sensation in his stomach but didn't mind it. _I must be going hungry again_, he thought to himself.

"**Well, he's taken," said Harry. "But Hestia Jones and Dedalus Diggle are more than up to the job -"**

"I feel bad for them," Sirius shook his head. Both Hestia and Diggle were on Order duty and couldn't make it to Grimmauld Place.

"**If we'd even seen CVs..." began Uncle Vernon, but Harry lost patience. Getting to his feet, he advanced to his uncle, now pointing at the TV set himself.**

"**These accidents aren't accidents – the crashes and explosions and derailments and whatever else has happened since we last watched the news. People are disappearing and dying and he's behind it – Voldemort. I've told you this over and over again, he kills Muggles for fun. Even the fogs – they're caused by dementors, and if you can't remember what they are, ask your son!"**

"What? My nephew has been attacked?" stared Lily at the book.

"He's not technically your nephew, it's your other self's nephew -" corrected Sirius.

"That's enough, Sirius," said McGonagall.

**Dudley's hands jerked upward to cover his mouth. With his parents' and Harry's eyes upon him, he slowly lowered them again and asked, "There are...more of them?"**

"**More?" laughed Harry. "More than two that attacked us, you mean? Of course there are, there are hundreds, maybe thousands by this time, seeing as they feed off fear and despair -"**

"**All right, all right," blustered Verson Dursley. "You've made your point -"**

"**I hope so," said Harry, "because once I'm seventeen, all of them – Death Eaters, dementors, maybe even Inferi – which means dead bodies enchanted by a Dark Wizard – will be able to find you and will certainly attack you. And if you remember the last time you tried to outrun wizards, I think you'll agree you need help."**

"He's really making his point to them," said Ginny dryly who decided to speak up.

"They had to be convinced though," said Ron to her.

**There was a brief silence in which the distant echo of Hagrid smashing down a wooden front door seemed to reverberate through the intervening years.**

"Why did Hagrid do that?" questioned McGonagall to Dumbledore.

"I do not have an answer for that, Minerva," said Dumbledore to her. "Please continue Harry."

**Aunt Petunia was looking at Uncle Vernon; Dudley was staring at Harry. Finally Uncle Vernon blurted out, "But what about my work? What about Dudley's school? I don't suppose those things matter to a bunch of layabout wizards -"**

Everyone had angry looks on their faces.

But Harry, who was reading the book, had turned ghostly pale as he read the next line. His eyes widened and his insides squirmed unpleasantly. His hands shook uncontrollably, having a hard time holding the book.

Both Ron and Hermione saw this and looked worried. "Harry? What's wrong?" asked Hermione.

Harry didn't respond immediately.

The others stopped muttering angrily about the Dursleys and watched the three. "Harry, dear?" asked Lily.

Sirius had a feeling that what they would be hearing next from the book would be a big blow to them, even if it didn't happen at all.

Harry, his voice shaking, continued to read.

"**Don't you understand?" shouted Harry. "**_**They will torture and kill you like they did my parents!**_**"**

Everyone was stunned at the words. Both Lily and James were losing colour on their faces; they couldn't believe what they have just heard.

Tears began falling down from Harry's eyes. He couldn't imagine losing his parents and then he realised that if his parents were dead at a much earlier date, then his brother Nathan did not exist at all. "He – he's an orphan," Harry choked in his tears. Both Ron and Hermione embraced him to comfort their friend.

Nathan, who had been hoping to hear his other self, was horrified. "I don't exist there?" he whispered. Remus, who was nearest to him, carried him to his lap and gave him a comforting hug.

"That can't be!" shouted Sirius. "They can't die – your other selves couldn't have died!" he looked at James and Lily and felt a wave of sadness inside himself.

Dumbledore, who had been silent, spoke. "It seems that this is the reason why the other Harry is staying at the Dursleys. Because Lily and James had passed away, Harry had to live with the closest relatives and that would be Petunia Dursley nee Evans. In order for the protection charm to work, Harry must live with them -"

"But what happened to my other self? And Remus? Or anyone else?" questioned Sirius. "They could've offered better protection than making Harry stay there –

"I do not have the answer Sirius," said Dumbledore. "But if my guesses are right with the other Harry's situation, it seems that your other self was sent to Azkaban -"

More horrified looks appeared on everyone's faces, and Sirius froze on spot. "What are you saying?" Remus turned to face Dumbledore, looking terribly confused. "Why would the other Sirius be sent to Azkaban?"

"Because of the switch," answered Dumbledore. "Because the switch of Secret-Keeper was never told by anyone else, the Ministry and I, regretfully, would have assumed that the traitor during the first war would be Sirius."

"No," said James finally. "Sirius can't go to Azkaban – he can't." Then he felt confused. The Sirius he knew was with him today and wasn't sent to Azkaban while the other Sirius did. It was confusing him, interchanging the two.

"But it did happen, in the other reality," said Dumbledore gravely, closing his eyes. "And it might be my other self's decision that Harry was sent away to live with his Aunt to keep him safe -"

"But he won't be safe there," said Lily, glaring at Dumbledore as if it had been his fault, "Petunia hates magic and so is his husband. And I'm certain that their child will hate it too. How could your other self do this? If James and I really died back in this reality, are you planning on sending him off to that place because of the protective charm?"

"...yes, I would," responded the Headmaster regretfully, shocking everyone else. "It is for his safety. You do know that even after Voldemort fell, Death Eaters still roam around, trying to find ways to avenge their master. An example of that would be the Longbottoms -" Everyone closed their eyes, remembering the tragic and brutal event that happened to the Longbottoms.

"But the others could've provided Harry better protection than just the blood wards!" argued Lily, gaining back her angry streak. "He'll be mistreated, abused -"

"Mum, please stop." Surprisingly, Harry spoke this time. "I think I understand what Professor Dumbledore's trying to say. Really, I do. Those were dark times, and maybe, it was the only way to keep my other self alive. Remus couldn't watch over me due his condition –" Remus looked grim, "and it's highly possible that Sirius might have been sent to Azkaban due to the switch," Sirius winced slightly as the horrid place was mentioned, "And it makes sense that staying in the wizarding world was more dangerous than in the Muggle world. I mean, that's what we did for the time being, right Mum, Dad? So if this – this were to happen here, I would've ended up the same as my other self. It must be painful, losing our own parents – I couldn't imagine the pain, really – but my other self accepted this. So I'm sure I could survive with some pain and hardship," he ended lamely.

"Harry -" said Lily.

Harry continued, "I'm not mad at Professor Dumbledore if he did that to me. Scratch that, I would be at first, but I'll understand it in the end. So don't be mad at him. None of this would've happened if it weren't for Voldemort." Sighing, he said, "I'll continue reading, all right?"

"**Dad," said Dudley in a loud voice, "Dad – I'm going with these Order people."**

"**Dudley," said Harry. "for the first time in your life, you're talking sense."**

**He knew that the battle was won. If Dudley was frightened enough to accept the Order's help, his parents would accompany him: There could be no question of being separated from their Diddykins. Harry glanced at the carriage clock on the mantelpiece.**

"**They'll be here in about five minutes," he said, and when none of the Dursleys replied, he left the room. The prospect of parting – probably forever – from his aunt, uncle and cousin was one that he was able to contemplate quite cheerfully, but there was nevertheless a certain awkwardness in the air. What did you say to one another at the end of sixteen years' solid dislike?**

"Probably nothing," said Nathan who still looked upset that he didn't exist from that reality.

**Back in his bedroom, Harry fiddled aimlessly with his rucksack, then poked a couple of owl nuts through the bars of Hedwig's cage. They fell with dull thuds to the bottom, where she ignored them.**

"**We're leaving soon, really soon," Harry told her. "And then you'll be able to fly again."**

**The doorbell rang. Harry hesitated, then headed back out of his room and downstairs. It was too much to expect Hestia and Dedalus to cope with the Dursleys on their own.**

"Oh they can," said Sirius, feeling slightly better unlike earlier.

"Especially Hestia, she's feisty," said Tonks cheerily. She and Hestia became good friends with each other since the first time they've met in the Order.

"**Harry Potter!" squeaked an excited voice, the moment Harry opened the door; a small man in a mauve top hat was sweeping him with a bow. "An honor, as ever!"**

"**Thanks, Dedalus," said Harry, bestowing a small and embarrassed smile upon the dark-haired Hestia. "It's really good of you to do this...They're through here, my aunt and uncle and cousin."**

"It's possible that Dedalus can handle them," noted Remus. "He's very optimistic."

"It might annoy the Dursleys, especially Vernon." Said James.

"The better for him to be there," said Sirius and soon, they were back to their old selves.

"**Good day to you, Harry Potter's relatives!" said Dedalus happily, striding into the living room.**

"I'm sure they loved being called that," commented Ginny.

**The Dursleys did not look at all happy to be addressed thus; Harry half expected another change of mind. Dudley shrank nearer to his mother at the sight of the witch and wizard.**

"**I see you are packed and ready. Excellent! The plan, as Harry has told you, is a simple one," said Dedalus, pulling an immense pocket watch out of his waistcoat and examining it. "We shall be leaving before Harry goes. Due to the danger of using magic in your house – Harry being stil underage, it could provide the Ministry with an excuse to arrest him – we shall be driving, say, ten miles or so, before Disapparating to the safe location we have picked out for you. You know how to drive, I take it?" he asked Uncle Vernon politely.**

"He's wasting his politeness on him," said Sirius while shaking his head.

"**Know how to -? Of course I ruddy well know how to drive!" spluttered Uncle Vernon.**

"**Very clever of you, sir, very clever, I personally would be utterly bamboozled by all those buttons and knobs," sid Dedalus. He was clearly under the impression that he was flattering Vernon Dursley, who was visibly losing confidence in the plan with every word Dedalus spoke.**

"Shame," James chuckled.

"**Can't even drive," he muttered under his breath, hus mustache rippling indignantly, but fortunately neither Dedalus nor Hestia seemed to hear him.**

"**You, Harry," Dedalus continued, "will wait here for your guard. There has been a little change in the arrangements -"**

"What change?" questioned Tonks.

"**What d'you mean?" said Harry at once. "I thought Mad-Eye was going to come and take me by Side-Along-Apparition?"**

"That's not going to work anymore," growled Moody, his magical eye spinning.

"**Can't do it," said Hestia tersely, "Mad-Eye will explain."**

**The Dursleys, who had listened to all of this with looks of utter incomprehension on their faces, jumped as a loud voice screeched, "**_**Hurry up!**_**" Harry looked all around the room before realising that the voice had issued from Dedalus's pocket watch.**

"**Quite right, we're operating to a very tight schedule," said Dedalus, nodding at his watch and tucking it back in his waistcoat. "We are attempting to time our departure from the house with your family's Disapparition, Harry; thus, the charm breaks at the moment you all head for safety." He turned to the Dursleys. "Well, are we all packed and ready to go?"**

**None of them answered him. Uncle Vernon was still staring, appalled, at the buldge in Dedalus's waistcoat pocket.**

"It just talked, it's not going to bite," huffed Ron.

"Might as well be," said Fred.

"**Perhaps we should wait outside in the hall, Dedalus," murmured Hestia. She clearly felt that it would betacless for them to remain in the room while Harry and the Dursleys exchanged loving, possibly tearful farewells.**

"That's not going to happen," said the Marauders, Lily and possibly everyone else.

"**There's no need," Harry muttered, but Uncle Vernon made any further explanation unnecessary by saying loudly,**

"**Well, this is good-bye, then, boy."**

**He swung his right arm upward to shake Harry's hand, but at the last moment seemed unable to face it, and merely closed his fist and began swinging it backward and forward like a metronome.**

"At least he tried," shrugged Harry.

"**Ready, Diddy?" asked Aunt Petunia, fussily checking the clasp of her handbag so as to avoid looking at Harry altogether.**

**Dudley did not answer, but stood there with his mouth slightly ajar, reminding Harry a little of the giant, Grawp.**

"Isn't that the giant that Hagrid managed to bring back from his mission?" questioned McGonagall to Dumbledore.

"Yes, he said that the giant is his half-brother," he told her.

"That's his brother? Wow," said Nathan in awe. "How tall is he? Twenty-five feet?"

"No, he's around sixteen to seventeen feet tall," answered Dumbledore. "Quite miniature, said Hagrid."

"Miniature?" repeated Hermine faintly who had never seen a giant before.

"I wonder how your other self met Hagrid's brother," said Ron conversationally to Harry.

"Dunno," said Harry, who hadn't met Grawp as well.

"**Come along, then," said Uncle Vernon.**

**He had already reached the living room door when Dudley mumbled, "I don't understand."**

"Typical," snorted Sirius.

"**What you don't understand, popkin?" asked Aunt Petunia, looking up at her son.**

**Dudley raised a large, hamlike hand to point at Harry.**

"**Why isn't he coming with us?"**

Everyone inside the room looked surprised. "What's with the question? It sounded as if -" frowned James.

"- he cares?" finished Lily. "I don't know. Please continue reading, Harry."

**Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia froze where they stood, staring at Dudley as though he had just expressed a desire to become a ballerina.**

Everyone let out a laugh as they tried to imagine the person wearing a tutu.

"**What?" said Uncle Vernon loudly.**

"**Why isn't he coming with us?" asked Dudley.**

"**Well, he – he doesn't want to," said Uncle Vernon, turning to glare at Harry and adding, "You don't want to, do you?"**

"Nope," said James and Sirius firmly.

"**Not in the slightest," said Harry.**

"**There you are," Uncle Vernon told Dudley, "Now come on, we're off."**

**He marched out of the room. They heard thefront door open, but Dudley did not move and after a few faltering steps Aunt Petunia stopped too.**

"**What now?" barked Uncle Vernon, reappearing in the doorway.**

**It seemed that Dudley was struggling with concepts too difficult to put into words. After several moments of apparently painful internal struggle he said, "But where's he going to go?"**

"This is getting weirder," said George in amazement. "Why's he asking these questions?"

**Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon looked at each other. It was clear that Dudley was frightening them. Hestia Jones broke the silence.**

"**But...surely you know where your nephew is going?" she asked, looking bewildered.**

"No, it doesn't sound they know where Harry's going," said James dryly.

"Because they don't care at all," Tonks huffed.

"**Certainly we know," said Vernon Dursley. "He's off with some of your lot, isn't he? Right, Dudley, let's get in the car, you heard the man, we're in a hurry."**

**Again, Vernon Dursley marched as far as the front door, but Dudley did not follow.**

"**Off with some of **_**our**_** lot?"**

"And here comes Hestia and her anger," said Sirius grandly who assumed the person who spoke was her.

**Hestia looked outraged. Harry had met this attitude before: Witches and wizards seemed stunned that his closest living relatives took so little interest in the famous Harry Potter.**

"**It's fine," Harry assured her. "It doesn't matter, honestly."**

"**Doesn't matter?" repeated Hestia, her voice rising ominously. "Don't these people realize what you've been through? What danger you are in? The unique position you hold in the hearts of the anti-Voldemort movement?"**

"**Er – no, they don't," said Harry. "They think I'm a waste of space, actually, but I'm used to -"**

"**I don't think you are a waste of space."**

"That does it, what happened to Dursley Jr.?" gaped James.

**If Harry had not seen Dudley's lips move, he might not have believed it. As ut was, he stared at Dudley for several seconds before accpeting that it must have been his cousin who had spoke; for one thing, Dudley had turned red. Harry was embarrassed and astonished himself.**

"**Well...er...thanks Dudley."**

**Again, Dudley appeared to grapple with thoughts too unwieldy for expression before mumbling, "You saved my life."**

"Ah, must be from those dementors that Harry mentioned earlier," said Moody.

"**Not really," said Harry. "It was your soul the dementor would have taken..."**

**He looked curiously at his cousin. They had had virtually no contact during this summer or last, as Harry had come back to Privet Drive so briefly and kept to his room so much. It now dawned on Harry, however, that he cup of cold tea on which he had trodden that morning might not have been a booby trap at all.**

Lily felt her lips curving upward. It seemed that there was something good inside one of the Dursleys and it was their son, Dudley.

Harry grinned slightly. He never met his own cousin – he's quite sure that the Dudley in this reality didn't know he had a cousin who's a wizard and that if he ever knew, he'd hate him like his parents – but he was happy for his other self that his own cousin didn't despise him anymore.

**Although rather touched, he was nevertheless quite relieved that Dudley appered to have exhausted his ability to express his feelings. After opening his mouth once or twice more, Dudley subsided into scarlet-faced silence.**

**Aunt Petunia burst into tears. Hestia Jones gave her an approving look that changed to outrage as Aunt Petunia ran forward and embraced Dudley rather than Harry.**

Lily said wryly, "That's typical of Tuney."

"**S-so sweet, Dudders..." she sobbed into his massive chest. "S-such a lovely b-boy...s-saying thank you..."**

"But he didn't say thank you!" said Ginny and Nathan together.

"What's wrong with that woman?" said Molly indignantly.

Arthur said soothingly to his wife, "It's all right, dear. Maybe it's a Dursley habit."

"**But he hasn't said thank you at all!" said Hestia indignantly. "He only said he didn't think Harry was a waste of space!"**

"**Yeah, but coming from Dudley that's like 'I love you,'" said Harry, torn between annoyance and a desire to laugh as Aunt Petunia continued to clutch at Dudley as if he had just saved Harry from a burning building.**

The twins shook their heads. "She's mental," the y said.

"**Are we going or not?" roared Uncle Vernon, reappearing yet again at the living room door. "I thought we were on a tight schedule!"**

"**Yes – yes, we are," said Dedalus Diggle, who had been watching these exchanges with an air of bemusement and now seemed to pull himself together. "We really must be off. Harry -"**

**He tripped forward and wrung Harry's hand with both of his own.**

"**- good luck. I hope we meet again. The hopes of the Wizarding world rest upon your shoulders."**

"But no pressure," said James sarcastically.

"Dad, it's fine." Said Harry to him.

"**Oh," said Harry, "right. Thanks."**

"He's not supposed to reply like that," said Hermione while shaking her head.

"I guess he doesn't know how to react with that," pointed out Ron.

"**Farewell, Harry," said Hestia, also clasping his hand. "Our thoughts go with you."**

"**I hope everything's okay," said Harry with a glanced toward Aunt Petunia and Dudley.**

"**Oh, I'm sure we shall end up the best of chums," said Diggle brightly, waving his hat as he left the room. Hestia followed him.**

"I really doubt about that," said Sirius sceptically.

**Dudley gently released himself from his mother's clutches and walked toward Harry, who had to repress an urge to threaten him with magic. Then Dudley held out his large, pink hand.**

Both Lily and Harry smiled a bit. James couldn't help but be glad that at least someone in that wretched family had a heart.

"**Blimey, Dudley," said Harry over Aunt Petunia's renewed sobs. "did the dementors blow a different personality into you?"**

"**Dunno," muttered Dudley. "See you, Harry."**

"Sounds as if he is hoping to meet him again," commented Remus.

"That's good," said Molly approvingly.

"**Yeah..." said Harry, taking Dudley's hand and shaking it. "Maybe. Take care, Big D."**

**Dudley nearly smiled, then lumbered from the room. Harry heard his heavy footfalls on the graveled drive, and then a car door slammed.**

**Aunt Petunia, whose face had been buried in her handkerchief, looked around at the sound. She did not seemed to have expected to find herself alone with Harry. Hastily stowing her wet handkercief into her pocket, she said, "Well – good-bye," and marched toward the door without looking at him.**

"Oh Tuney," sighed Lily, leaning on James's shoulder to rest her head.

"**Good-bye," said Harry.**

**She stopped and looked back.**

Lily straightened up and looked at the book more closely.

**For a moment Harry had the strangest feeling that she wantted to say something to him: She gave him an add, tremulous look and seemed to teeter on the edge of speech, but then, wit ha little jerk of her head, she bustled out of the room after her husband and son.**

Lily leaned back in her seat and sighed deeply, disappointed.

"That's the end of the chapter," said Harry to them. "Who's going to read the next one?"

George's hand shot up in the air before anyone else, surprising everyone, especially his twin Fred. "I do, I want to know what's going to happen next." He said.

"I'm very disappointed in you, Gred," said Fred sternly at his twin. "Didn't we promise not be interested in reading _any_ book?"

"I'm terribly sorry, Forge, but I can't help it," said George in exaggerated shame. "Will you forgive me?"

"I don't know if I can forgive you soon," sighed Fred dramatically.

"Come on, you two, that's enough," said Bill to them, smiling wryly. "And besides, it's horrible." He added.

The twins pouted at them but grinned anyway. "Okay Billy-o boy," said George, looking at the next chapter with slight amusement. "Interesting, _the Seven Potters._"

"Seven?" gasped Lily. "That's impossible."

"Harry might not be an orphan after all," said Sirius. "I can't believe your other selves were getting -"

"If you finish that sentence of yours Sirius, I'll hex you where it hurts and you won't like it one single bit," said James with a threatening look while holding his wand and pointing it at him.

"Keeping quiet," said Sirius. Remus and Tonks and the Order members chuckled at him.

"Read away George," said Arthur.

* * *

_**That's the end of the chapter. Very confusing, made my mind go haywire.**_

_**I do know about the deletion. I just needed to post this until I reached the part where they are done so I'll be posting this maybe around once a month for a bit of discretion. Then I'll try to make the continuation about their take on their war. Funnily enough, they didn't delete the first one I made (the OOTP one) but I deleted it myself thinking that I couldn't finish it. And I noticed that the only the popular ones are being deleted. It's not like I'm saying that the others are horrible or anything, just not my cup of tea (LOL that's funny from me, I don't really drink tea).**_

_**The next one's going to be bit livelier. Can you guess how they will react about Canon!Ron's comment about Canon!Harry and a Hungarian Horntail tattoo on his chest? How will AU!Ginny and AU!Harry react? What will the Marauders say about it? Last but not the least, does AU!Harry have a tattoo? **_

_**After reading your comments about Regulus, I have to agree. I'd rather keep him dead. Now off to the next question, how are the Malfoys in this story? Good? Bad? Great? Regretful?**_

_**One last bit, I'll be changing the title for more discretion and the summary just to let you know.  
**_


	5. The Seven Potters

_**I know it took so long for me to update but I have to prioritise my other story, Choices. Anyway, here's the chapter for you guys and Happy New Year! Thank goodness there's no End of the World going on (not that I believed in it) I'm still young and I haven't gotten myself married ahahaha!**_

* * *

**Harry ran back upstairs to his bedroom, arriving at the window just in time to see the Dursleys' car swinging out of the drive and off up the road. Dedalus's top hat was visible between Aunt Petunia and Dudley in the backseat. The car turned right at the end of Privet Drive, its windows burned scarlet for a moment in the now setting sun, and then it was gone.**

**Harry picked up Hedwig's cage, his Firebolt,**

"Best broom ever made," grinned Harry with James, Sirius and the other Quidditch lovers.

Hermione, Molly and Lily merely rolled their eyes but chuckled.

**and his rucksack, gave his unnaturally tidy bedroom one last sweeping look, and then made his ungainly way back downstairs to the hall, where he deposited cage, broomstick, and bag near the foot of the stairs. The light was fading rapidly, the hall full of shadows in the evening light. It felt most strange to stand here in the silence and know that he was about to leave the house for the last time.**

"But where will he go?" asked Nathan curiously to his parents.

"Somewhere safe, I'm sure." said Lily firmly.

"He'll be safe, look how thick the book is," pointed out Sirius. "Harry's a tough kid."

"Hey I'm not a kid, anymore!"

"You know what I mean," chuckled Sirius at his godson.

**Long ago, when he had been left alone while the Dursleys went out to enjoy themselves, the hours of solitude had been a rare treat. Pausing only to sneak something tasty from the fridge,**

"What's that supposed to mean?" questioned Molly, her eyes narrowing. The others glanced at each other, wondering the words used to describe the other Harry's thoughts.

**he had rushed upstairs to play on Dudley's computer, or put on the television and flicked through the channels to his heart's content. It gave him an odd, empty feeling remembering those times; it was like remembering a younger brother whom he had lost.**

Nathan shrunk a bit. He still felt upset that he wasn't in the other reality.

**"Don't you want to take a last look at the place?" he asked Hedwig, who was still sulking with her head under her wing.** **We'll never be here again. Don't you want to remember all the good times? I mean, look at this doormat. What memories … **

"What does your other self want to remember about a doormat?" asked Ron blankly to Harry.

"Dunno, maybe it's something funny," he thought.

"**Dudley throw up on it after I saved him from the dementors … Turns out he was grateful after all, can you believe it?"**

"We know, it's hard to believe it," agreed George while Fred nodded.

**And last summer, Dumbledore walked through that front door … "**

**Harry lost the thread of his thoughts for a moment and Hedwig did nothing to help him retrieve it, but continued to sit with her head under her wing. Harry turned his back on the front door.**

"**And under here, Hedwig" – Harry pulled open a door under the stairs – **

George stopped and stared at the next few words in huge disbelief. "BLOODY HELL!" he swore loudly, causing the others to jump in shock from their seats.

"George! Mind your words!" scolded Molly angrily while McGonagall cried "Mr. Weasley!".

"What's wrong?" asked Lily worryingly.

George glanced up to her direction, unsure what to say. "Er – Mrs. Potter, before I continue reading, will you and the others don't get…angry?"

The other adults were now curious after hearing him. "Are you trying to prepare us for something we might react strongly?" questioned Remus speculatively, putting two on two together.

"Pretty much," he said. "So I think a couple of Calming Draughts will be handy, is all."

"Is it really that bad?" asked Ginny, looking at her older brother curiously.

"Must be," said Fred, staring at his twin closely. "He wouldn't ask for a Calming Draught and ask for all of us not to get angry."

"It's best if you read it now," said Harry. "The sooner, the better. I'm sure it's not as worse as my other self becoming an orphan. Just read it, George."

George sighed. "If you say so." He glanced back at the book and continued.

"**And under here, Hedwig" – Harry pulled open a door under the stairs – "is where I used to sleep!"**

Everyone fell silent. George knew this would create chaos, a different kind of chaos he was sure to crop up while reading the book. Nearly everyone inside the room was as white as sheet, especially the Potters. Both Ron and Hermione stared in shock at their best mate while Harry's eyes were wide, staring at the book in huge denial.

"I don't think I heard it correctly," said Lily in an awfully calm manner. "Did Harry just say that -"

"T-those Dursleys – they – Harry – cupboard -" spluttered Sirius in rage.

James's gaze was on his eldest son and the words kept repeating inside his mind, increasing his anger. "This – this – _do you think that's the right decision now, Dumbledore?!_" he thundered, whipping his head toward the headmaster's direction, his eyes filled with fury.

Everything went out of control. Soon, both Lily, Molly, McGonagall and even Tonks and the rest of the adult witches were rounding up and shouting at Dumbledore. James and Sirius were now sprouting swear words while gripping their wands, wanting to hex something badly. Remus was still in his seat, covering the ears of Nathan who was in shock of what he heard, and everyone else were arguing.

Harry couldn't imagine himself being raised in that kind of hellhole and he watched everyone with angry looks on their faces.

"I can't believe what I've just heard! That's child abuse!" cried Hermione.

"That's sick, I tell you -" shouted Tonks.

"No child should be treated that way! Why I never -"

"- If you just -"

"- very irresponsible -"

"That's enough!" shouted Harry at the top of his lungs, silencing everyone. "Look, what my other self had experienced will never happen in this – this world because you're both alive -" he said to his parents, "- so shouting at Dumbledore won't make a difference. Come on, we've only read less than three chapters I know more than enough that he turned out good – heck, even better than I could ever be -"

"Harry dear, don't say that -" said Lily but Harry stopped her.

"No, it's true," he shook his head. "He sounded modest, caring even those who are undeserving of it and – and he went through a lot. More than what I could imagine. I know a lot of kids could've turned out horrible with that kind of environment but he didn't."

Everyone didn't say word and let the words sink in. "Harry's right," said Remus to everyone. "We should be proud that the other Harry grew up a better man than we could ever thought after hearing all of this."

"…I am," agreed Lily. "But it doesn't mean that we have to accept the way they treated him throughout the years. It must've been horrible, growing up until reaching eleven just leave that place…"

"Let's just hope that if there's some kind of other reality, the other Dumbledore wouldn't do that kind of stunt," snarled Sirius, glaring at Dumbledore's direction.

"I do apologise for thinking it would be safe if this were to happen," said the headmaster mournfully. "I -"

"It's fine," said Harry awkwardly, feeling somewhat uncomfortable someone like Dumbledore would apologise to him. "It didn't happen here."

"So, shall we continue?" questioned Charlie warily, looking at everyone.

"Yes, we should." Nodded Moody with a grunt. "We're wasting time as it is. _CONSTANT VIGILANCE!_" he roared, causing nearly everyone to jump in surprise.

**You never knew me then – Blimey, it's small, I'd forgotten … "**

**Harry looked around at the stacked shoes and umbrellas remembering how he used to wake every morning looking up at the underside of the staircase, which was more often than not adorned with a spider or two.**

Ron shuddered involuntarily. "Do you have to mention that?" he said weakly. Both Harry and Hermione cracked a grin. It was still surreal to have heard that the other Harry was forced to sleep in the cupboard.

**Those had been the days before he had known anything about his true identity; before he had found out how his parents had died or why such strange things often happened around him. But Harry could still remember the dreams that had dogged him, even in those days: confused dreams involving flashes of green light and once – Uncle Vernon had nearly crashed the car when Harry had recounted it – a flying motorbike …**

Lily rounded to Sirius. "Don't tell me you rode on that motorbike while -"

"I didn't!" said the dog Animagus defensively, holding up his arms in the air.

"Really Lily, he didn't," said James to her. "I'm not that mad to let Padfoot ride Harry with him a flying motorbike at age one –"

"Somehow, I doubt it," said his wife but sighed. "But if you two are being honest, then I'll believe you."

"It would've been cool though," whispered Fred to Harry's ear.

Harry cracked a grin. "Sirius let me when I was six. It was brilliant," he told him lowly.

**There was a sudden, deafening roar from somewhere nearby. Harry straightened up with a jerk and smacked the top of his head on the low door frame.**

"Ouch," winced Bill. He experienced that a couple times while getting his broomstick from the broomshed.

**Pausing only to employ a few of Uncle Vernon's choicest swear words, he staggered back into the kitchen, clutching his head and staring out of the window into the back garden.**

**The darkness seemed to be rippling, the air itself quivering. Then, one by one, figures began to pop into sight as their Disillusionment Charms lifted. Dominating the scene was Hagrid, wearing a helmet and goggles and sitting astride an enormous motorbike with a black sidecar attached. **

"Ah so Hagrid had my other self's motorbike," mused Sirius to himself.

**All around him other people were dismounting from brooms and, in two cases, skeletal, black winged horses.**

"Somehow, I'm not surprised if the other Harry could see them," said Tonks to Kingsley.

"Me either," he nodded in his deep voice.

**Wrenching open the back door, Harry hurtled into their midst. There was a general cry of greeting as Hermione flung her arms around him, Ron clapped him on the back, and Hagrid said, "All righ', Harry? Ready fer the off?"**

"**Definitely," said Harry, beaming around at them all. "But I wasn't expecting this many of you!"**

"What's their plan of leaving the Dursley's home anyway?" asked Charlie aloud.

"They can't possibly leave together," frowned Arthur. "It sounded to me that they're more than ten."

"Let's find out a bit more later," said Molly.

"**Change of plan," growled Mad-Eye, who was holding two enormous bulging sacks, and whose magical eye was spinning from darkening sky to house to garden with dizzying rapidity. "Let's get undercover before we talk you through it."**

**Harry led them all back into the kitchen where, laughing and chattering, they settled on chairs, sat themselves upon Aunt Petunia's gleaming work surfaces, or leaned up against her spotless appliances; Ron, long and lanky;**

Ron snorted. "Nice description of me, mate." He said, smacking Harry on the arm.

"Hey! It wasn't me!" protested Harry.

"Wouldn't be surprised if you're thinking along the same lines." He said casually to him. Harry sniggered.

**Hermione, her bushy hair tied back in a long plait;**

"Bushy hair?" repeated Hermione while raising an eyebrow at Harry.

Harry backed away from her. "Don't hit me!"

She rolled her eyes at him. "Honestly, I'm not like Ron."

**Fred and George, grinning identically; Bill, badly scarred and long-haired;**

"What?" cried Molly. "What happened to you?"

"Mum, nothing happened to me, it's my other self," reminded Bill to his mother.

"It doesn't matter," said Ginny, frowning. "Who gave your other self a scar?"

"That's what I wanted to know," said Molly angrily. Arthur knew that the more protective his wife was to their children, the more powerful and skilful of a duellist she was.

**Mr. Weasley, kind-faced, balding, his spectacles a little awry; Mad-Eye, battle-worn, one-legged, his bright blue magical eye whizzing in its socket; Tonks, whose short hair was her favorite shade of bright pink;**

"Oh I'm there!" said Tonks happily.

"That's not you -" pointed out Sirius.

"Never you mind," she said offhandedly to her cousin. "She's still me, and I'm her either way."

**Lupin, grayer, more lined;**

James smiled. "At least your other self is there for Harry." He said to the werewolf.

"Anything for Harry." He said simply.

**Fleur, slender and beautiful, with her long silvery blonde hair;**

"And why is she there?" questioned Ginny again, glancing toward Bill who begun to thinking numerous scenarios.

"Isn't she the Beauxbaton champion?" asked Fred, a Cheshire grin appearing on his face.

"Oh yes, that is her." Nodded George while stroking his chin as if having a beard. "I wonder why she's there -"

"Maybe she's there for the very same reason that the others are there?" suggested Bill, glaring at his siblings.

"Come on, stop it you three," said Tonks. "Keep reading, Gred."

**Kingsley, bald and broad-shouldered; Hagrid, with his wild hair and beard, standing hunchbacked to avoid hitting his head on the ceiling; and Mundungus Fletcher, small, dirty, and hangdog, with his droopy beady hound's eyes and matted hair. **

"Of all the people, why is he there?" said James incredulously. "He isn't exactly trustworthy in terms of those kinds of missions, if you ask me."

"He has a point," grunted Moody. "But I'm guessing he's there because my other self forced him to."

"Makes sense," said Remus and Tonks. Sirius wolf-whistled before earning a smack from both of them.

**Harry's heart seemed to expand and glow at the sight: He felt incredibly fond of all of them, even Mundungus, whom he had tried to strangle the last time they had met.**

Everyone looked curious.

"**Kingsley, I thought you were looking after the Muggle Prime Minister?" he called across the room.**

"**He can get along without me for one night," said Kingsley, "You're more important."**

"**Harry, guess what?" said Tonks from her perch on top of the washing machine, and she wiggled her left hand at him; a ring glistened there.**

Sirius wolf-whistled while the twins began chanting wedding tunes, causing for both Tonks and Remus to blush. "Cut it out, you three!" said Tonks angrily, her bubble-gum pink hair turned hot red. "It isn't funny!"

"Ohh defending your future husband, eh?" teased Sirius. "I must -"

Remus scowled at him and said, "That's it, you're getting it -" he shot a spell at the dog Animagus' direction, hitting Sirius's face dead-on and a flash of blue light sparked on his face.

When the light disappeared, everyone got to see what happened and began laughing. "What are you all laughing at?" demanded Sirius.

"A mirror might answer your question, Sirius," said McGonagall, flicking her wand. A small rounded mirror popped in, appearing on Sirius's lap.

Sirius grabbed the mirror and levelled it to his face. His face was covered in mult-coloured moles as big as small peas and they formed a word "Mutt" across his face. He swore and Remus managed to cover Nathan's ears again. "What did you do to my handsome face, you fleabag?" he scowled.

"Just to let you know, werewolves don't get fleas, only dogs do, like you," smirked Remus. Harry and Ron chortled while the rest stifled their snorts and chuckles.

"Why you -"

"You deserve it," said Lily. "If you didn't tease them, then you wouldn't have that on your face – I have to admit really, it looks good on you –"

"Not funny, Lily," huffed Sirius. "Come on, Moony, remove this."

"Sorry, no can do. It'll disappear once we finish the chapter," said the werewolf simply. "You have to bear with it."

Sirius opened his mouth but Tonks brandished her wand and silenced her cousin. "Keep reading George or you'll be next," the female Auror said with a glint in her eye.

"Yes ma'am," saluted George and began reading once more.

"**You got married?" Harry yelped, looking from her to Lupin.**

"**I'm sorry you couldn't be there, Harry, it was very quiet."**

"**That's brilliant, congrat –"**

"**All right, all right, we'll have time for a cozy catch-up later," roared Moody over the hubbub, and silence fell in the kitchen. Moody dropped his sacks at his feet and turned to Harry. "As Dedalus probably told you, we had to abandon Plan A.**

"What's plan A?" asked Nathan curiously.

"I think it's the one that Harry mentioned earlier," said Ginny to him. "Harry has to side-along Apparition with Moody."

**Pius Thicknesse has gone over, which gives us a big problem. He's made it an imprisonable offense to connect this house to the Floo Network, place a Portkey here, or Apparate in or out. All done in the name of your protection, to prevent You-Know-Who getting in at you. **

**Absolutely pointless, seeing as your mother's charm does that already. What he's really done is to stop you getting out of here safely."**

"**Second problem: You're underage, which means you've still got the Trace on you."**

"**I don't –"**

"He doesn't know about the Trace?" said Bill.

"Seems to me that the other Harry has half-knowledge about the wizarding world," said Moody gruffly. His words spooked both Lily and James who were now looking uncomfortable with that very thought. "That will be a disadvantage."

**"The Trace, the Trace!" said Mad-Eye impatiently. "The charm that detects magical activity around under-seventeens, the way the Ministry finds out about underage magic! If you, or anyone around you, casts a spell to get you out of here, Thicknesse is going to know about it, and so will the Death Eaters."**

"**We can't wait for the Trace to break, because the moment you turn seventeen you'll lose all the protection your mother gave you. In short, Pius Thicknesse thinks he's got you cornered good and proper."**

"That's why they have to move Harry before he becomes of age," nodded Arthur. "It makes sense."

**Harry could not help but agree with the unknown Thicknesse.**

"**So what are we going to do?"**

"**We're going to use the only means of transport left to us, the only ones the Trace can't detect, because we don't need to cast spells to use them: brooms, thestrals, and Hagrid's motorbike."**

**Harry could see flaws in this plan; however, he held his tongue to give Mad-Eye the chance to address them.**

Moody and the other Aurors were able to figure out how the plan would go about. "Risky but excellent," said Tonks, sharing a look with Kingsley and Moody.

"He won't know what's coming, that's for certain," nodded Kingsley.

"What are you talking about?" asked Harry who overheard them.

"You'll know soon – just keep listening," grunted Moody at him.

"**Now, your mother's charm will only break under two conditions: when you come of age, or" – Moody gestured around the pristine kitchen – "you no longer call this place home. You and your aunt and uncle are going your separate ways tonight, in the full understanding that you're never going to live together again, correct?"**

**Harry nodded.**

"**So this time, when you leave, there'll be no going back, and the charm will break the moment you get outside its range. We're choosing to break it early, because the alternative is waiting for You-Know-Who to come and seize you the moment you turn seventeen.****"**

"And they don't want to happen," said Lily seriously. She knew that Harry from the book wasn't exactly her son, but she already cared for him and wanted him to be safe.

"**The one thing we've got on our side is that You-Know-Who doesn't know we're moving you tonight. **

**We've leaked a fake trail to the Ministry: They think you're not leaving until the thirtieth. However, this is You-Know-Who we're dealing with, so we can't rely on him getting the date wrong; he's bound to have a couple of Death Eaters patrolling the skies in this general area, just in case. So, we've given a dozen different houses every protection we can throw at them. They all look like they could be the place we're going to hide you, they've all got some connection with the Order: my house, Kingsley's place, Molly's Auntie Muriel's – you get the idea."**

"It makes sense now with the numbers but -" said Hermione but a thought entered her mind and she gasped, earning inquisitive looks from the others sitting nearby. "Oh!"

Ron and Harry stared. "What's with that look? Oh, you understand their plan? Come on -"

"It's hopeless mate," said Harry to Ron. "We both know we wouldn't get an answer from her anytime."

Hermione smacked their arms. "I heard you!"

"**Yeah," said Harry, not entirely truthfully, because he could still spot a gaping hole in the plan.**

"**You'll be going to Tonks's parents. Once you're within the boundaries of the protective enchantments we've put on their house you'll be able to use a Portkey to the Burrow. Any questions?"**

"**Er – yes," said Harry. "Maybe they won't know which of the twelve secure houses I'm heading for at first, but won't it be sort of obvious once" – he performed a quick headcount – "fourteen of us fly off toward Tonks's parents?"**

"That's not technically the idea," mused Charlie who was beginning to connect two-on-two.

"**Ah," said Moody, "I forgot to mention the key point. Fourteen of us won't be flying to Tonks's parents. There will be seven Harry Potters **

"What?" exclaimed Harry, standing up. "You mean – Holy Merlin's sh -!"

"Harry!" scolded Lily who managed to cover Nathan's ears. "This is getting ridiculous, Nathan's here and he shouldn't be hearing all of you cursing -"

"But we can't help it," said Sirius, scratching the back of his head. "This book's pretty overwhelming and we're only on the fourth chapter. That says a lot, Lilyflower. "

Molly patted Lily on the shoulder sympathetically. "Well dear, I do know one spell that can block certain words from being heard to anyone. It might help with our problem here."

"That sounds like a wonderful idea!"

Molly casted the spell on Nathan and both Nathan's ears glowed slightly. "It seems to be working."

"Let's test it – Merlin's stinking, rotting, piece of shit!" said Sirius loudly suddenly.

Lily's face reddened in anger and turned to Nathan who stared at Sirius curiously. "What were you saying, Uncle Sirius?" he asked innocently.

"It does work – ow!" swore Sirius as Lily shot a strong Stinging Jinx at his right arm.

"Continue reading, George," said the Potter matriarch simply.

**moving through the skies tonight, each of them with a companion, each pair heading for a different safe house."**

**From inside his cloak Moody now withdrew a flask of what looked like mud. There was no need for him to say another word; Harry understood the rest of the plan immediately.**

"**No!" he said loudly, his voice ringing through the kitchen. "No way!"**

"Since it's Moody initiating the plan, there's not much my other self can do," said Harry, feeling quite sorry.

"**I told them you'd take it like this," said Hermione with a hint of complacency.**

**"If you think I'm going to let six people risk their lives - !"**

"—**because it's the first time for all of us," said Ron.**

"So true," nodded Ron.

"**This is different, pretending to be me –"**

"What's the worst thing that could happen, really?" Fred rolled his eyes.

Harry threw a pillow at his face but Fred managed to swat it away easily. "You don't have a lunatic like Voldemort -" everyone flinched except Lily, the Marauders, Moody, Kingsley and Tonks, "- chasing you. Oh, include in the list are his mad followers." Said Harry sarcastically.

**"Well, none of us really fancy it, Harry," said Fred earnestly. "Imagine if something went wrong and we were stuck as specky, scrawny gits forever."**

A couple snorted. Harry scowled.

**Harry did not smile.**

"No sense of humour, such a shame," George shook his head.

"**You can't do it if I don't cooperate, you need me to give you some hair."**

"**Well, that's the plan scuppered," said George. "Obviously there's no chance at all of us getting a bit of your hair unless you cooperate."**

"**Yeah, thirteen of us against one bloke who's not allowed to use magic; we've got no chance," said Fred.**

"Our other selves are so funny," the twins chorused, smirking at one another.

**"Funny," said Harry, "really amusing."**

"**If it has to come to force, then it will," growled Moody, his magical eye now quivering a little in its socket as he glared at Harry. "Everyone here's overage, Potter, and they're all prepared to take the risk."**

**Mundungus shrugged and grimaced; the magical eye swerved sideways to glance at him out of the side of Moody's head.**

Almost everyone narrowed their eyes at this. "That's definitely not a good sign," said Arthur.

"It would've been better if he's not there in the first place," said Bill, earning nods from the others.

"**Let's have no more arguments. Time's wearing on. I want a few of your hairs, boy, now."**

"**But this is mad, there's no need –"**

"There's no point in arguing with Mad-Eye," said Tonks cheerily. "All Mad-Eyes from different dimensions are the same – stubborn, paranoid, grouchy –"

"One more word, Nymphadora –" threatened Moody with a scary smirk.

Tonks scowled at him. "Don't call me Nymphadora!"

**"No need!" snarled Moody. "With You-Know-Who out there and half the Ministry on his side? Potter, if we're lucky he'll have swallowed the fake bait and he'll be planning to ambush you on the thirtieth, but he'd be mad not to have a Death Eater or two keeping an eye out, it's what I'd do. They might not be able to get at you or this house while your mother's charm holds, but it's about to break and they know the rough position of the place. Our only chance is to use decoys. Even You-Know-Who can't split himself into seven."**

**Harry caught Hermione's eye and looked away at once.**

"Okay, what was that eye-contact?" asked Harry awkwardly.

"I don't know but that better not be _that_ look," huffed Ron while crossing his arms.

"What look are you talking about, Ron?" asked Ginny with an inquisitive look on her face.

Ron looked uncomfortable with the gazes he was earning from the others. "Never you mind," he said.

Hermione shook her head but leaned over and whispered, "Even if that were the case in that reality, that won't happen here." Ron glanced over her and couldn't help but smile.

Dumbledore, on the other hand, had his mind begun working. "Splitting into seven…" he murmured, thinking what Voldemort could possibly had done.

"**So, Potter – some of your hair, if you please."**

**Harry glanced at Ron, who grimaced at him in a just-do-it sort of way.**

"**Now!" barked Moody.**

**With all of their eyes upon him, Harry reached up to the top of his head, grabbed a hank of hair, and pulled.**

"That must've hurt," winced Nathan.

"**Good," said Moody, limping forward as he pulled the stopper out of the flask of potion. "Straight in here, if you please."**

**Harry dropped the hair into the mud****-****like liquid. The moment it made contact with its surface, the potion began to froth and smoke, then, all at once, it turned a clear, bright gold.**

"I'm not surprised," remarked McGonagall.

Lily smiled. "What does that colour mean?" asked Charlie. "I know it's usually disgusting to look at -"

"The colour of the Polyjuice potion reflects the personality of the person being impersonated," said Hermione promptly. "The darker the colour, the more horrible the personality really is."

"And bright gold means that the person, in simpler terms, the exact opposite of Voldemort and his followers," said Lily.

"**Ooh, you look much tastier than Crabbe and Goyle, Harry," said Hermione,**

Ron raised eyebrows while the others stared at Hermione.

"It's not me!" said the bushy-haired Gryffindor defensively, blushing slightly.

**before catching sight of Ron's raised eyebrows, blushing slightly, and saying, "Oh, you know what I mean – Goyle's potion tasted like bogies."**

"And what does that mean?" questioned the Head of Gryffindor, looking at Hermione beadily.

"I honestly don't know," said Hermione truthfully, wondering what made her other self drink Polyjuice Potion with Goyle's (she shuddered inwardly) essence.

"**Right then, fake Potters line up over here, please," said Moody.**

**Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, and Fleur lined up in front of Aunt Petunia's gleaming sink.**

"**We're one short," said Lupin.**

"It's obvious who that is," said Tonks.

"**Here," said Hagrid gruffly, and he lifted Mundungus by the scruff of the neck and dropped him down beside Fleur, who wrinkled her nose pointedly and moved along to stand between Fred and George instead.**

"**I said, I'd sooner be a protector," said Mundungus.**

"Protector my arse," said Bill while Nathan looked at him, wondering he said in the last bit. "He'd be a runner. Even the Mundungus here is like that."

"**Shut it," growled Moody. "As I've already told you, you spineless worm, any Death Eaters we run into will be aiming to capture Potter, not kill him. Dumbledore always said You-Know-Who would want to finish Potter in person. It'll be the protectors who have got the most to worry about, the Death Eaters'll want to kill them."**

"Ah, so true," nodded Sirius.

**Mundungus did not look particularly reassured, but Moody was already pulling half a dozen eggcup-sized glasses from inside his cloak, which he handed out, before pouring a little Polyjuice Potion into each one.**

"**Altogether, then…"**

**Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, Fleur, and Mundungus drank. All of them gasped and grimaced as the potion hit their throats; At once, their features began to bubble and distort like hot wax. Hermione and Mundungus were shooting upward; Ron, Fred, and George were shrinking; their hair was darkening, Hermione's and Fleur's appearing to shoot backward into their skulls.**

"That must've been weird," said Harry thoughtfully. "Watching six people turning into you."

**Moody, quite unconcerned, was now loosening the ties of the large sacks he had brought with him. When he straightened up again, there were six Harry Potters gasping and panting in front of him.**

**Fred and George turned to each other and said together, "Wow – we're identical!"**

Everyone snorted while Fred and George hi-fived each other.

"**I dunno, though, I think I'm still better-looking," said Fred, examining his reflection in the kettle.**

"Keep on dreaming," smirked George. "I know my other self way better looking than you."

"**Bah," said Fleur, checking herself in the microwave door, "Bill, don't look at me – I'm 'ideous."**

Both Molly and Arthur, including the rest, turned their heads to Bill's direction. The eldest Weasley son shifted uncomfortably under their gazes, most especially under his mother's. "So, still denying it?" said Fred cheekily.

Bill's reply was throwing a pillow at his face.

"I am not assuming, but I would like to know if you and her are meeting," said Molly seriously. "Because in that reality, it's implying more than that."

"Well, don't react too much -" said Bill. "Right, I'll go straight to the point, Fleur and I are dating."

"Dating? But I thought -" interrupted Charlie.

"Yes, dating," said Bill forcefully. "But I don't think it's going well."

"What d'you mean by that?" wondered Ron.

"I can't exactly tell her that I'm part of the Order and that I'm doing a couple of underwork," he said awkwardly while scratching the back of his head. "She knows I'm hiding something from her and she doesn't like it. But no, she's not forcing me to tell her if you're wondering. It's…hard."

"I know what you mean," mused Tonks. "I had to dump a bloke from a different department because I keep declining dates that hit on our schedule."

"Which means that you and Moony -" Sirius stopped when James covered his mouth.

"I don't think you should continue that or you'll get yourself in worse conditions." He said to him.

"Okay, that's enough talking about Billy's love life," said George with a yawn. "Back to reading, shall we?"

"**Those whose clothes are a bit roomy, I've got smaller here," said Moody, indicating the first sack, "and vice versa. Don't forget the glasses, there's six pairs in the side pocket. And when you're dressed, there's luggage in the other sack."**

**The real Harry thought that this might just be the most bizarre thing he had ever seen, and he had seen some extremely odd things. He watched as his six doppelgangers rummaged in the sacks, pulling out sets of clothes, putting on glasses, stuffing their own things away. He felt like asking them to show a little more respect for privacy as they all began stripping off with impunity,**

"I definitely agree," nodded Harry. "My body's too sacred to be shown -"

"Yeah right," snorted Ron, whacking the eldest Potter son on the back of the head.

**clearly more at ease with displaying his body than they would have been with their own.**

George scanned through the next sentence and a mischievous grin graced on his face.

"**I knew Ginny was lying about that tattoo," said Ron, looking down at his bare chest.**

Both Harry and Ginny choked. "What?!" roared Ron and Charlie, standing up and glaring to Harry's direction.

"Excuse me?" exclaimed Ginny. "Stop making up dialogues, you prat!"

"Ah, but dear little sister, I'm not making up lines," said George teasingly. "Well, is this happening here as well -?"

"Shut it!"

"To clear things up, Ginny has not seen my well-endowed body personally," said Harry with a straight face. Both James and Sirius tried and failed not to snort. Lily shook her head at her son's antics while Molly pursed her lips, contemplating whether or not to scold Harry for teasing Ginny. "But I do wonder, do you have that secret desi -"

"If you finish that sentence Potter, I'll make sure your bits will feel painful for a least a week," threatened Ginny as she whipped up her wand. "And besides, you're not that good-looking."

Harry looked highly offended. "I take offense in that! You're only saying that because you're embarrassed -"

"Mate, if you try to flash yourself to Gin, I'm going to pound you myself in your sleep," said Ron bluntly. "I'm serious. No pun."

"So, you don't have the inkling of affection to my son?" asked James interestedly. Lily smacked him on the arm for asking such question.

"No, Mr. Potter," said Ginny coolly. "I'm sure Harry doesn't feel the same way towards me. I would know." Harry jerked his head, giving her a surprised look.

"We're wasting time talking," said Moody roughly. "You, George, read now."

"**Harry, your eyesight really is awful," said Hermione, as she put on glasses.**

"That's why he's wearing glasses," pointed out Harry. Hermione rolled her eyes.

**Once dressed, the fake Harrys took rucksacks and owl cages, each containing a stuffed snowy owl, from the second sack.**

"**Good," said Moody, as at last seven dressed, bespectacled, and luggage-laden Harrys faced him. "The pairs will be as follows: Mundungus will be traveling with me, by broom –"**

"**Why'm I with you?" grunted the Harry nearest the back door.**

"Because he's the likeliest person to run away from an attack," snarled Moody. The others nodded.

"**Because you're the one that needs watching," growled Moody, and sure enough, his magical eye did not waver from Mundungus as he continued, "Arthur and Fred –"**

"**I'm George," said the twin at whom Moody was pointing. "Can't you even tell us apart when we're Harry?"**

"**Sorry, George –"**

"**I'm only yanking your wand, I'm Fred really –"**

"That's no time to fool around," growled the Ex-Auror, his electric eye spinning madly.

"**Enough messing around!" snarled Moody. "The other one – George or Fred or whoever you are – you're with Remus. Miss Delacour –"**

"**I'm taking Fleur on a thestral," said Bill. "She's not that fond of brooms."**

"Nice excuse, other Bill," teased Fred to which Bill pointedly ignored him. Molly pursed her lips but didn't say anything, knowing that she had not met the girl yet although it was fairly obvious her other self did.

**Fleur walked over to stand beside him, giving him a soppy, slavish look that Harry hoped with all his heart would never appear on his face again.**

All of the females in the room giggled while Harry groaned.

"**Miss Granger with Kingsley, again by thestral –"**

**Hermione looked reassured as she answered Kingsley's smile; Harry knew that Hermione too lacked confidence on a broomstick.**

**"Which leaves you and me, Ron!" said Tonks brightly, knocking over a mug tree as she waved at him.**

"I'm not surprised your other self's also clumsy as you," remarked Sirius.

**Ron did not look quite as pleased as Hermione.**

"And why is that?" questioned Tonks, arching an eyebrow to Ron's direction as if expecting him to know the answer.

"Search me," he shrugged.

"**An' you're with me, Harry. That all righ'?" said Hagrid, looking a little anxious. "We'll be on the bike, brooms an' thestrals can't take me weight, see. Not a lot o' room on the seat with me on it, though, so you'll be in the sidecar."**

"Harry, on a sidecar," snickered Fred while George burst out a laugh.

"Ha-ha-ha, very funny," Harry rolled his eyes.

"**That's great," said Harry****.**

"Your other self's happy with it," pointed out George.

"**We think the Death Eaters will expect you to be on a broom," said Moody, who seemed to guess how Harry was feeling. "Snape's had plenty of time to tell them everything about you he's never mentioned before, so if we do run into any Death Eaters, we're betting they'll choose one of the Potters who looks at home on a broomstick. All right then," he went on, tying up the sack with the fake Potters' clothes in it and leading the way back to the door, "I make it three minutes until we're supposed to leave. No point locking the back door, it won't keep the Death Eaters out when they come looking. Come on …"**

**Harry hurried to gather his rucksack, Firebolt, and Hedwig's cage and followed the group to the dark back garden.**

**On every side broomsticks were leaping into hands; Hermione had already been helped up onto a great black thestral by Kingsley, Fleur onto the other by Bill. Hagrid was standing ready beside the motorbike, goggles on.**

"**Is this it? Is this Sirius's bike?"**

Sirius couldn't help but smile proudly at the mention of his bike – rather, his other dead self's bike.

"**The very same," said Hagrid, beaming down at Harry. "An' the last time yeh was on it, Harry, I could fit yeh in one hand!"**

"Aww, isn't that cute?" cooed Ginny, teasing Harry.

**Harry could not help but feel a little humiliated as he got into the sidecar. It placed him several feet below everybody else: Ron smirked at the sight of him sitting there like a child in a bumper car. **

Ron snickered. Harry hit him on the head while Hermione shook her head at them.

**Harry stuffed his rucksack and broomstick down by his feet and rammed Hedwig's cage between his knees. He was extremely uncomfortable.**

**"Arthur's done a bit o' tinkerin'," said Hagrid, quite oblivious to Harry's discomfort. He settled himself astride the motorcycle, which creaked slightly and sank inches into the ground. "It's got a few tricks up its sleeves now. Tha' one was my idea." He pointed a thick finger at a purple button near the speedometer.**

**"Please be careful, Hagrid." said Mr. Weasley, who was standing beside them, holding his broomstick. "I'm still not sure that was advisable and it's certainly only to be used in emergencies."**

**"All right, then." said Moody. "Everyone ready, please. I want us all to leave at exactly the same time or the whole point of the diversion's lost."**

**Everybody motioned their heads.**

**"Hold tight now, Ron," said Tonks, and Harry saw Ron throw a forcing, guilty look at Lupin before placing his hands on each side of her waist. **

"Ah so that's why Ron's not happy," concluded Sirius. "He's afraid Moony might go after him for holding his wife -"

"Shut it, Padfoot," said Remus with a hard look.

"Fine," huffed Sirius. "You're no fun."

"Don't push it, mind you." Reminded James.

**Hagrid kicked the motorbike into life: It roared like a dragon, and the sidecar began to vibrate.**

"**Good luck, everyone," shouted Moody. "See you all in about an hour at the Burrow. **

**On the count of three. One … two .. THREE."**

Everyone tensed. All of the adults, especially the Potters, were worried and half-hopeful that nothing wrong will happen on their flight. It was surreal that it wasn't happening on their world but they felt that they could relate to their other selves and they all had grown attached as if they've known them for a long time.

**There was a great roar from the motorbike, and Harry felt the sidecar give a nasty lurch. He was rising through the air fast, his eyes watering slightly, hair whipped back off his face. Around him brooms were soaring upward too; the long black tail of a thestral flicked past. His legs, jammed into the sidecar by Hedwig's cage and his rucksack, were already sore and starting to go numb. So great was his discomfort that he almost forgot to take a last glimpse of number four Privet Drive. By the time he looked over the edge of the sidecar he could no longer tell which one it was.**

George glimpsed to the next time and gulped involuntarily.

**And then, out of nowhere, out of nothing, they were surrounded. **

"Oh dear Merlin!" gasped Molly, clutching her heart.

**At least thirty hooded figures, suspended in midair, formed a vast circle in the middle of which the Order members had risen, oblivious –**

"Come on! Get away!" said Tonks, tightening and loosening her grip of her hand to ease her tense.

**Screams, a blaze of green light on every side: Hagrid gave a yell and the motorbike rolled over. Harry lost any sense of where they were. Streetlights above him, yells around him, he was clinging to the sidecar for dear life. Hedwig's cage, the Firebolt, and his rucksack slipped from beneath his knees –**

"His familiar – Hedwig -" said Harry, his eyes wide as if he could see it right now.

**"No – HELP!"**

**The broomstick spun too, but he just managed to seize the strap of his rucksack and the top of the cage as the motorbike swung the right way up again. A second's relief, and then another burst of green light. The owl screeched and fell to the floor of the cage.**

Harry froze. He couldn't imagine his own familiar Ferene be hit with the Killing curse. "No -" he said. Ron and Hermione sat closer to him to comfort him.

**"No – NO!"**

**The motorbike zoomed forward; Harry glimpsed hooded Death Eaters scattering as Hagrid blasted through their circle.**

**"Hedwig – Hedwig –"**

Harry shook his head. "She – she – his first friend -" he muttered.

"He'll be fine," said James lowly, coming over and giving his son a small hug. "I'm sure he will be."

**But the owl lay motionless and pathetic as a toy on the floor of her cage. He could not take it in, and his terror for the others was paramount. He glanced over his shoulder and saw a mass of people moving, flares of green light, two pairs of people on brooms soaring off into the distance, but he could not tell who they were –**

**"Hagrid, we've got to go back, we've got to go back!" he yelled over the thunderous roar of the engine, pulling out his wand, ramming Hedwig's cage into the floor, refusing to believe that she was dead. "Hagrid, TURN AROUND!"**

"He can't," said Remus sadly.

The others knew Remus was right.

**"My job's ter get you there safe, Harry!" bellow Hagrid, and he opened the throttle.**

"Thank goodness Hagrid's there," said Lily.

**"Stop – STOP!" Harry shouted, but as he looked back again two jets of green light flew past his left ear:**

"That's close!" cried Nathan. He didn't know much spells but he had been oriented what on a couple of spells and one of which was the Unforgivable Curses.

**Four Death Eaters had broken away from the circle and were pursuing them, aiming for Hagrid's broad back. Hagrid swerved, but the Death Eaters were keeping up with the bike; more curses shot after them, and Harry had to sink low into the sidecar to avoid them. Wriggling around he cried, "Stupefy!" and a red bolt of light shot from his own wand, cleaving a gap between the four pursuing Death Eaters as they scattered to avoid it.**

**"Hold on, Harry, this'll do for 'em!" roared Hagrid, and Harry looked up just in time to see Hagrid slamming a thick finger into a green button near the fuel gauge.**

**A wall, a solid black wall, erupted out of the exhaust pipe. Craning his neck, Harry saw it expand into being in midair. **

"That – that's pretty brilliant," said Sirius to Arthur. "D'you know how to do that now?"

"No," said the Weasley patriarch. "But I can find out what my other self get that. I think there's a mix of Transfiguration and Charms in it." McGonagall nodded in agreement.

**Three of the Death Eaters swerved and avoided it, but the fourth was not so lucky; He vanished from view and then dropped like a boulder from behind it, his broomstick broken into pieces.**

"One down, three more to go." sighed James in relief.

**One of his fellows slowed up to save him, but they and the airborne wall were swallowed by darkness as Hagrid leaned low over the handlebars and sped up.**

"Make that two," noted Remus, mentally crossing his fingers.

**More Killing Curses flew past Harry's head from the two remaining Death Eaters' wands; they were aiming for Hagrid.**

"Hagrid's tough," said Lily to her younger son Nathan who gasped.

**Harry responded with further Stunning Spells: Red and green collided in midair in a shower of multicolored sparks, and Harry thought wildly of fireworks, and the Muggles below who would have no idea what was happening –**

**"Here we go again, Harry, hold on!" yelled Hagrid, and he jabbed at a second button. This time a great net burst from the bike's exhaust, but the Death Eaters were ready for it. Not only did they swerve to avoid it, but the companion who had slowed to save their unconscious friend had caught up.**

"Tough luck," said Kingsley.

**He bloomed suddenly out of the darkness and now three of them were pursuing the motorbike, all shooting curses after it.**

**"This'll do it, Harry, hold on tight!" yelled Hagrid, and Harry saw him slam his whole hand onto the purple button beside the speedometer.**

**With an unmistakable bellowing roar, dragon fire burst from the exhaust, white-hot and blue, and the motorbike shot forward like a bullet with a sound of wrenching metal.**

"Brilliant!" said Sirius in awe as he turned to Arthur. "You should really tinker my motorbike after this -"

"You two can talk about that later," said James fretfully. "I need to know what's happening to Harry -"

"You know I'm here, right?" said Harry to his father with an eyebrow raised.

"I'm talking about the other Harry."

Harry shook his head. "Everyone's going nuts now."

**Harry saw the Death Eaters swerve out of sight to avoid the deadly trail of flame, and at the same time felt the sidecar sway ominously: Its metal connections to the bike had splintered with the force of acceleration.**

"Oh dear Merlin! It's about to get loosen up!" gasped Hermione.

"I'm sure they're almost at their destination," said Ron reassuredly but he was worried as well. Especially Harry himself.

**"It's all righ', Harry!" bellowed Hagrid, now thrown flat onto the back by the surge of speed; nobody was steering now, and the sidecar was starting to twist violently in the bike's slipstream.**

**"I'm on it, Harry, don' worry!" Hagrid yelled, and from inside his jacket pocket he pulled his flowery pink umbrella.**

"That's not a good idea -" said Bill warily.

**"Hagrid! No! Let me!"**

**"REPARO!"**

"Let it work -" said Molly hopefully.

**There was a deafening bang and the sidecar broke away from the bike completely. **

Everyone inside the room groaned.

**Harry sped forward, propelled by the impetus of the bike's flight, then the sidecar began to lose height –**

**In desperation Harry pointed his wand at the sidecar and shouted, "**_**Wingardium Leviosa!**_**"**

"Good idea but –" said Lily worryingly.

**The sidecar rose like a cork, unsteerable but at least still airborne.**

"And that's the problem," frowned Ginny. "How is he going to get out of that one?"

**He had but a split second's relief, however, as more curses streaked past him: The three Death Eaters were closing in.**

Too much tension to bear, Nathan couldn't help but cover his eyes as if he could them in front of him.

**"I'm comin', Harry!" Hagrid yelled from out of the darkness, but Harry could feel the sidecar beginning to sink again: Crouching as low as he could, he pointed at the middle of the oncoming figures and yelled, "**_**Impedimenta!**_**"**

"_Constant Vigilance, Potter!_" roared Moody, causing the rest to jump.

"Don't do that, Mad-Eye!" said Tonks crossly. "You're scaring everyone here!"

**The jinx hit the middle Death Eater in the chest; For a moment the man was absurdly spread-eagled in midair as though he had hit an invisible barrier: One of his fellows almost collided with him –**

"'serves them right!" said Sirius.

**Then the sidecar began to fall in earnest, and the remaining Death Eater shot a curse so close to Harry that he had to duck below the rim of the car, knocking out a tooth on the edge of his seat –**

Harry winced.

**"I'm comin', Harry, I'm comin'!"**

**A huge hand seized the back of Harry's robes and hoisted him out of the plummeting sidecar; Harry pulled his rucksack with him as he dragged himself onto the motorbike's seat and found himself back-to-back with Hagrid. **

"Great timing," said Arthur while Molly breathed out.

"How many pages left before this chapter ends?" questioned Lily anxiously. "I don't think my heart can handle any more at the moment -"

George counted the remaining pages and said, "Around two to three pages left."

**As they soared upward, away from the two remaining Death Eaters, Harry spat blood out of his mouth, pointed his wand at the falling sidecar, and yelled, "**_**Confringo!**_**"**

**He knew a dreadful, gut-wrenching pang for Hedwig as it exploded; the Death Eater nearest it was blasted off his broom and fell from sight; his companion fell back and vanished.**

Harry bowed his head. Ron patted him on the back sympathetically.

**"Harry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," moaned Hagrid, "I shouldn'ta tried ter repair it meself – yeh've got no room –"**

"Don't apologise!" moaned Tonks. "Just keep driving!"

**"It's not a problem, just keep flying!" Harry shouted back, as two more Death Eaters emerged out of the darkness, drawing closer.**

"Exactly my point!"

**As the curses came shooting across the intervening space again, Hagrid swerved and zigzagged: Harry knew that Hagrid did not dare use the dragon-fire button again, with Harry seated so insecurely. Harry sent Stunning Spell after Stunning Spell back at their pursuers, barely holding them off. He shot another blocking jinx at them: The closest Death Eater swerved to avoid it and his hood slipped, and by the red light of his next Stunning Spell, Harry saw the strangely blank face of Stanley Shunpike – Stan –**

"Isn't he the conductor of the Knight Bus?" asked Fred in surprise. He didn't think that someone like him would join the other side.

"He must be Imperiused," said Kingsley deeply. The others agreed.

**"**_**Expelliarmus!**_**" Harry yelled.**

**"That's him, it's him, it's the real one!"**

"What?" reacted James in shock. "But how did he know that that's the real Harry?"

"We cannot be certain how they managed to identify Harry but I'm sure it'll be revealed," said Dumbledore as a number of speculations entered his mind.

"Don't you have any idea, perhaps?" questioned Remus.

"I have a number but it's best to wait for the right answer," said the headmaster solemnly.

**The hooded Death Eater's shout reached Harry even above the thunder of the motorbike's engine: Next moment, both pursuers had fallen back and disappeared from view.**

Everyone looked confused. "Why?" asked Charlie.

**"Harry, what's happened?" bellowed Hagrid. "Where've they gone?"**

**"I don't know!"**

**But Harry was afraid: The hooded Death Eater had shouted, "It's the real one!"; how had he known? He gazed around at the apparently empty darkness and felt its menace. Where were they?**

**He clambered around on the seat to face forward and seized hold of the back of Hagrid's jacket.**

**"Hagrid, do the dragon-fire thing again, let's get out of here!"**

**"Hold on tight, then, Harry!"**

**There was a deafening, screeching roar again and the white-blue fire shot from the exhaust: Harry felt himself slipping backwards off what little of the seat he had. Hagrid flung backward upon him, barely maintaining his grip on the handlebars –**

**"I think we've lost 'em Harry, I think we've done it!" yelled Hagrid.**

"Don't get too lax!" barked Moody. "Always be on alert!"

**But Harry was not convinced; Fear lapped at him as he looked left and right for pursuers he was sure would come. . . . Why had they fallen back? One of them had still had a wand. . . . It's him. . . it's the real one. . . . They had said it right after he had tried to Disarm Stan. . . .**

Hermione had a concentrated look on her face and it dawned to her how they managed to find out. Ron and Harry saw her expression and waited, expecting her to tell them. "It'll wait later," she whispered to them.

**"We're nearly there, Harry, we've nearly made it!" shouted Hagrid.**

**Harry felt the bike drop a little, though the lights down on the ground still seemed remote as stars.**

**Then the scar on his forehead burned like fire: **

"That's not a good sign," said Harry, staring at book in alarm, knowing all too well what would happen next.

**as a Death Eater appeared on either side of the bike, two Killing Curses missed Harry by millimeters, cast from behind –**

**And then Harry saw him.**

George read the next line and gulped a bit.

**V****-v****ol****-****demort was flying**

"WHAT?" yelped James as he stood up. "He can _fly?_"

**like smoke on the wind, without broomstick or thestral to hold him, his snake-like face gleaming out of the blackness, his white fingers raising his wand again –**

Nathan couldn't take it anymore so he scooted over to his parents' side for comfort.

**Hagrid let out a bellow of fear and steered the motorbike into a vertical dive. Clinging on for dear life, Harry sent Stunning Spells flying at random into the whirling night. He saw a body fly past him and knew he had hit one of them, but then he heard a bang and saw sparks from the engine; the motorbike spiraled through the air, completely out of control –**

"It's loosing gas!" gasped Sirius.

"They're close, come on!" moaned Tonks.

"They'll make it, I'm sure," said Remus reassuringly to them but he was worried as well.

**Green jets of light shot past them again. Harry had no idea which way was up, which down: His scar was still burning; he expected to die at any second. A hooded figure on a broomstick was feet from him, he saw it raise its arm –**

**"NO!"**

**With a shout of fury Hagrid launched himself off the bike at the Death Eater;**

"What did he just do?!" screamed Molly. "He just left Harry!"

"That's not good – that's not good –" repeated Lily, her hands shaking slightly. James wrapped an arm around her shoulder, trying to ease her worry.

**to his horror, Harry saw both Hagrid and the Death Eater, falling out of sight, their combined weight too much for the broomstick –**

**Barely gripping the plummeting bike with his knees, Harry heard Vol****-ld-****demo****-o****rt scream, "Mine!"**

"Not in a million years, snakeface!" said Harry defiantly.

**It was over: He could not see or hear where V****-v****ol****-****d****-d****em****-****ort was;**

"What just happened?" asked Ginny in confusion.

"They must have made it to their checkpoint," said McGonagall and her words made the rest inside the room feel relieved.

"Thank Merlin they made it," said Lily thankfully.

**he glimpsed another Death Eater swooping out of the way and heard, "Avada –"**

Everyone paled once again. "Come on!" said Sirius forcefully.

**As the pain from Harry's scar forced his eyes shut, his wand acted of its own accord. **

"Is that correct?" questioned Remus curiously.

"That's what it says here," said George as he pointed the last bit of sentence.

"Is that even possible?" said Bill while turning to Dumbledore.

"It could be," noted Dumbledore. "This is coming from the other Harry's point of view so he must believed it was not his doing. Please continue, Mr. Weasley."

**He felt it drag his hand around like some great magnet, saw a spurt of golden fire through his half-closed eyelids, heard a crack and a scream of fury.**

"Whoa gold fire?" repeated Nathan in awe.

"That's very bloody brilliant, mate," said Ron to Harry. "D'you think you can do that?"

Harry shrugged. "Dunno. Maybe if I'm in that situation, I could but I'm not risking myself just yet."

"Fair point."

**The remaining Death Eater yelled; Vo****-o****ld****-d-****emort screamed, "NO!" Somehow, Harry found his nose an inch from the dragon-fire button. He punched it with his wand-free hand and the bike shot more flames into the air, hurtling straight toward the ground.**

**"Hagrid!" Harry called, holding on to the bike for dear life. "Hagrid – Accio Hagrid!"**

"Wrong move," said Kingsley. "The effect will be the exact opposite."

**The motorbike sped up, sucked towards the earth.**

"I hope he doesn't get hurt," said Lily hopefully.

**Face level with the handlebars, Harry could see nothing but distant lights growing nearer and nearer: He was going to crash and there was nothing he could do about it. Behind him came another scream, "Your wand, Selwyn, give me your wand!"**

"Too late for that," smirked Sirius.

James nodded. "Too right you are."

**He felt Vo****-****lde****-e****mort before he saw him. Looking sideways, he stared into the red eyes and was sure they would be the last thing he ever saw: V****-****ol****-l-****demor****-r****t preparing to curse him once more –**

**And then Vo****-vo****lde****-m-****mort vanished. **

"I think this time Harry made it to the safe point," said Charlie in realisation.

**Harry looked down and saw Hagrid spread-eagled on the ground below him. He pulled hard at the handlebars to avoid hitting him, groped for the brake, but with an earsplitting, ground trembling crash, he smashed into a muddy pond.**

Harry and the others winced. "Better than on the ground, I suppose." He said after a moment.

"That's the end of the chapter," said George while shaking his head. "That was tense to read."

"So," said Ron as he turned to Hermione. "You have that look earlier like to figured out something. Care to tell us?"

Hermione cleared her throat and said, "I just realised how they managed to find out that Harry really is Harry. It's when he casted the Disarming spell -"

"Why that?" frowned James. "How can casting that spell gave him away so easily?"

"I think it's because the other Harry used it for more than one occasion," mulled Remus thoughtfully. "More than a couple of times that it seemed like it is his signature move."

"That's mental," said Harry. "I wouldn't really dream of using the Disarming spell as my signature move. I wonder who taught him that."

"It must be from someone you looked up to," piped up Nathan.

"Could be," he shrugged. "Anyway, I need to go to the loo so I'll leave for a bit -" he shot a meaningful look toward Ginny's direction, "- and don't read just yet." He stood up from his seat beside Ron and Sirius and walked out of the study room and up to his room. He didn't wait much longer when he heard light footsteps and saw Ginny standing in front of him. "So," he began.

"What is it do you want from e?" questioned Ginny without beating around the bush.

"I'm just wondering if you're not really into me," he said airily. "We're both alone now and -"

"Don't kid yourself," she rolled her eyes. "I know you're not interested in me and definitely I'm not to you as well."

"What makes you say that?" pressed on Harry.

Ginny let herself smile. "Because I know you've been eyeing on a different redhead since last year." Seeing Harry's expression change slightly, she knew she was right. "I'm right, aren't I?"

"No you're not -" he denied.

"She's in the same year as you but in a different House," she continued while walking around him. "Do I have to spell it for you, Harry?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said stubbornly but he knew he was losing the battle.

"Her name starts with an S and ends with an N." she sang. "Come on, you shouldn't deny it. It's fairly obvious if you ask me."

Harry shot her a look but sighed. "Fine. I do fancy Susan Bones."

"See? It wasn't that hard."

"Well, it's hard for me. I don't think she ever looks at me like how I look at her," he grumbled.

"She wouldn't since you're dating two or three girls per semester," pointed out Ginny. "Any sane girl wouldn't date someone like you. And looks aren't enough," she added, seeing Harry open his mouth. "You have to show that you can commit. If you can, then she might see you in a different light."

"You think so?" he asked awkwardly.

"Positive," she nodded.

"You'll help me, won't you?" he asked with a tiniest hint of hope mixed in his tone.

Ginny laughed. "You have to earn it. So I assumed you called me to confirm if I know your little secret?"

"Pretty much," said Harry while scratching the back of his head. Without much thought, he asked, "Anyway, do you fancy the pants out of someone right now?"

"Nope."

"No?" he raised an eyebrow. "Really now?"

"Even if I do, it's none of your business," she said simply. "I'm just better at keeping secrets than you are."

"Hey that's uncalled for!" protested Harry. "I'll find out who that secret person is, Miss Weasley."

"Bring it on, Mister Potter." She smirked as they returned inside the study room.

* * *

_**Here is the latest chapter! I really do apologise if this took so long.**_

_**I hope you didn't abandon this story. It'll be sad, if you ask me. Anyway, do you like AU!Harry in this story? I think he has a bit of Sirius and James in him which he should have since he grew up with his parents and loved ones. And yes, he doesn't fancy Ginny and visa-versa. AU!Harry has taken an interest in Susan Bones (as much as I like ErnieXSusan pairing, I don't mind HarryXSusan although I have not read any story relating to it). **_

_**Harry here is determined to find out who Ginny fancies for – well, to get even with her but will he find out? Why don't you take a guess? For a clue, it's not Michael Corner and Dean Thomas.**_

_**Next chapter will be posted sometime next month. I'm trying to get my groove back in this story so yeah, please bear with me!**_


	6. Fallen Warrior

"Where have you two been?" questioned Sirius as both Harry and Ginny re-entered inside the study room. His face was now jinx-free from what Remus casted on his face. "Oh I get it, you went sn -"

"That's not true," said Harry while rolling his eyes. "She went down to the kitchen to drink some tea -"

"And you know this how?" smirked his godfather, wiggling his eyebrows. Both Lily and Molly shook their heads at him.

"Because I told him," sniffed Ginny, sitting beside Hermione comfortably. "Like I said earlier, he's not my type."

"She's in denial, I'm telling you," snorted Harry. "She just doesn't want to admit that I'm really dashing and -"

"- has an ego bigger than the entire universe," finished Ginny matter-of-factly.

Both Lily and James glanced at each other, thinking exactly what they had in mind. But they knew that it was only a probability that may or may not happen between the two. "Either way, I want them to be happy." said Lily quietly to her husband who nodded.

"So who's going to read the next chapter?" asked Fred to everyone.

"I will," volunteered Charlie as she stood up. "But I'm feeling hungry, to be honest -" his stomach let out a loud lurch, which everyone stared at him. Some chuckled at this. A second lurch erupted and the others turned to Ron's direction who grinned sheepishly.

"It's around eleven now," said Molly. "We should be preparing for lunch."

"I'll help you," said Lily, leaving her seat.

"Me too!" volunteered Tonks, shooting up to her seat but due to her clumsiness, she almost fell down. Luckily, both Kingsley and Remus got hold of her just on time. "Thanks, you two." She grinned.

Sirius began miming, gesturing at Remus as if trying to hug an imaginary pillow and made smooching gestures which Tonks was completely oblivious of. Remus threw a dirty look at him and withdrew his wand threateningly as if saying loudly one-more-leaf-about-Tonks-and-I-and-you'll-be-more-than-sorry-later with the current expression he was now wearing.

"You don't need to help us, dear," said Molly carefully. Clearly, she knew chaos would ensue if she'd let her inside the kitchen.

Everyone bustled out of study room with only Ginny and Harry the last in line. "One more word about me fancying you Potter, and I'll tell everyone that you fancy Zacharias Smith." She said seriously.

Harry looked aghast. "That's a lie! No one would believe in that!"

She smirked. "Oh really? All of us know how much you wanted to 'pounce' that Hufflepuff ever since he made that scathing remark about your kissing ability." She turned and walked out gracefully of the study room, leaving him staring at her in bewilderment.

"I really have to get some dirt out from her." he muttered to himself while leaving the room.

* * *

"That. Is. The best lunch I ever had," said Sirius, satisfied as he patted his slightly bigger tummy.

"You always keep on saying that whenever you had lunch with us or at the Weasleys," pointed out James. They were now done eating with almost of the dishes that Molly and Lily made (with the help of magic to quicken the process), downed by everyone.

Sirius pointed ignored him. "Why don't we settle down at the living room? Just for a change of scenery."

"I guess there's nothing wrong," shrugged Lily while drying her hands from cleaning the dishes.

Everyone went to the spacious living room and made themselves comfortable, with the Golden Trio sitting on the carpet together, and Ginny beside Bill and the twins. Tonks sat between Kingley and Remus, who was forced to seat beside her courtesy of Sirius who decided to take the high chair near the fireplace. McGonagall, Dumbledore and Moody took a seat near the entrance (although it seemed that Moody decided to sit there to keep an eye out on everything), while Molly and Arthur were in the loveseat, as well as Lily and James on the other. Charlie lounged himself on the other end of the carpet with Nathan crawling over next to him but was close enough to his parents.

"Right then, the next chapter is called…" Charlie glanced over the next title and his face fell. "…_**the Fallen Warrior.**_"

Nearly everyone looked tense, most especially Harry who could tell that his other self would be guilt-ridden over the death of someone who tried to protect.

"There's no point in being depressed," barked Moody at the lot. "That won't happen here yet."

"How about not happen at all?" frowned Molly in worry. She didn't want to think that any of her children would try at a young age, regardless if they were of age.

"You know that's not going to happen, we're at war." Said the Ex-Auror bluntly. "Go on and read, Charles."

**"Hagrid?"**

**Harry struggled to raise himself out of the debris of metal and leather that surrounded him; his hands sank into inches of muddy water as he tried to stand. He could not understand where Vol****-****d****-d****emort had gone and expected him to swoop out of the darkness at any moment. Something hot and wet was trickling down his chin and from his forehead.**

"He did fall from the sky," winced Fred.

**He crawled out of the pond and stumbled toward the great dark mass on the ground that was Hagrid.**

**"Hagrid? Hagrid, talk to me –"**

**But the dark mass did not stir.**

"Oh I hope he's not…" fretted Hermione. The rest looked worried, thinking that the fallen warrior would have been Hagrid.

**"Who's there? Is it Potter? Are you Harry Potter?"**

"That must be Dad," said Tonks hopefully, sitting up straight.

**Harry did not recognize the man's voice. Then a woman shouted. "They've crashed. Ted! Crashed in the garden!"**

Nearly everyone drew a collective sigh. "He's safe," said Lily weakly.

"Of course he is." Murmured James as he embraced his wife.

**Harry's head was swimming.**

**"Hagrid," he repeated stupidly, and his knees buckled.**

**The next thing he knew, he was lying on his back on what felt like cushions, with a burning sensation in his ribs and right arm. His missing tooth had been regrown. The scar on his forehead was still throbbing.**

"Sounded like he was given Skele-Gro," noted Harry who knew a thing or two about healing potions.

**"Hagrid?"**

**He opened his eyes and saw that he was lying on a sofa in an unfamiliar, lamplit sitting room. His rucksack lay on the floor a short distance away, wet and muddy. A fair-haired, big-bellied man was watching Harry anxiously.**

Tonks couldn't help but grin. "Nice description, Harry. Did you also think the same?" she asked amusedly to Harry.

"Something along the lines, yeah." Grinned Harry sheepishly.

"We all know that Harry Potter from different dimensions have this horrible descriptions about anyone he'd meet," snorted Ron before earning a blow on the back of his head. "Oi!"

**"Hagrid's fine, son," said the man, "the wife's seeing to him now. How are you feeling? Anything else broken? I've fixed your ribs, your tooth, and your arm. I'm Ted, by the way, Ted Tonks – Dora's father."**

**Harry sat up too quickly. Lights popped in front of his eyes and he felt sick and giddy.**

"It's the scar," murmured Harry, moving his eyes up to his forehead.

**"Voldemort –"**

**"Easy, now," said Ted Tonks, placing a hand on Harry's shoulder and pushing him back against the cushions. **

**"That was a nasty crash you just had. What happened, anyway? Something go wrong with the bike? Arthur Weasley overstretch himself again, him and his Muggle contraptions?"**

**"No," said Harry, as his scar pulsed like an open wound. "Death Eaters, loads of them – we were chased –"**

**"Death Eaters?" said Ted sharply. "What d'you mean, Death Eaters? I thought they didn't know you were being moved tonight, I thought –"**

**"They knew," said Harry.**

"Question is, how?" growled Moody.

"Snape from that world got the information, didn't he?" reminded Bill everyone. "He must've gotten it by someone -"

"Not willingly, of course." Interjected Tonks. "I don't think anyone of us would say a word."

Everyone murmured in agreement.

**Ted Tonks looked up at the ceiling as though he could see through it to the sky above.**

**"Well, we know our protective charms hold, then, don't we? They shouldn't be able to get within a hundred yards of the place in any direction."**

**Now Harry understood why Voldemort had vanished; it had been at the point when the motorbike crossed the barrier of the Order's charms. He only hoped they would continue to work: He imagined V****-****olde****-****m****m-****ort, a hundred yards above them as they spoke, looking for a way to penetrate what Harry visualized as a great transparent bubble.**

Some chuckled at the description. "That is a very weird description but I guess that works," mused James.

**He swung his legs off the sofa; he needed to see Hagrid with his own eyes before he would believe that he was alive. He had barely stood up, however, when a door opened and Hagrid squeezed through it, his face covered in mud and blood, limping a little but miraculously alive.**

**"Harry!"**

**Knocking over two delicate tables and an aspidistra, he covered the floor between them in two strides and pulled Harry into a hug that nearly cracked his newly repaired ribs. "Blimey, Harry, how did yeh get out o' that? I thought we were both goners."**

**"Yeah, me too. I can't believe –"**

**Harry broke off. He had just noticed the woman who had entered the room behind Hagrid.**

**"You!" he shouted, and he thrust his hand into his pocket, but it was empty.**

Tonks couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Honestly, she doesn't look like that monster _at all_."

"What do you mean by that?" asked George curiously.

"You'll understand once we let Charlie-bear continue reading," she said impatiently. Remus inwardly frowned at her chosen nickname for the second Weasley son but shook his head thinking he was probably weirded out.

**"Your wand's here, son," said Ted, tapping it on Harry's arm. "It fell right beside you, I picked it up…And that's my wife you're shouting at."**

**"Oh, I'm – I'm sorry."**

**As she moved forward into the room, Mrs. Tonks's resemblance to her sister Bellatrix**

"Really?" piped up Nathan who hadn't met Tonks's mother.

"From a distance, yes, but she's more beautiful and heart-warming person than that lunatic of a sister!" said Tonks firmly.

"And besides, Andy doesn't like being mistaken as her older sister," added Sirius.

"Yeah, we got hexed by her for the first time we met her, didn't we Remus?" nodded James while Remus nodded.

"She is still a Black, even if she is once-removed." Huffed the Metamorphagus Auror.

**became much less pronounced:****Her hair was a light'soft brown and her eyes were wider and kinder. Nevertheless, she looked a little haughty after Harry's exclamation.**

**"What happened to our daughter?" she asked. "Hagrid said you were ambushed; where is Nymphadora?"**

Tonks scowled at the mention of her first name.

**"I don't know," said Harry. "We don't know what happened to anyone else."**

**She and Ted exchanged looks. A mixture of fear and guilt gripped Harry at the sight of their expressions, if any of the others had died, it was his fault, all his fault. He had consented to the plan, given them his hair . . .**

**"The Portkey," he said, remembering all of a sudden. "We've got to get back to the Burrow and find out – then we'll be able to send you word, or – or Tonks will, once she's –"**

**"Dora'll be ok, 'Dromeda," said Ted. "She knows her stuff, she's been in plenty of tight spots with the Aurors. The Portkey's through here," he added to Harry. "It's supposed to leave in three minutes, if you want to take it."**

"Thanks for the vote of confidence Dad," grinned Tonks.

**"Yeah, we do," said Harry. He seized his rucksack, swung it onto his shoulders. "I –"**

**He looked at Mrs. Tonks, wanting to apologize for the state of fear in which he left her and for which he felt so terribly responsible, but no words occurred to him that he did not seem hollow and insincere.**

"She'll understand," said Lily as if hearing out Tonks's thoughts. "Andromeda knows and I'm sure here she would feel the same way."

**"I'll tell Tonks – Dora – to send word, when she . . . Thanks for patching us up, thanks for everything, I –"**

**He was glad to leave the room and follow****ed**** Ted Tonks along a short hallway and into a bedroom. Hagrid came after them, bending low to avoid hitting his head on the door lintel.**

**"There you go, son. That's the Portkey."**

**Mr. Tonks was pointing to a small, silver-backed hairbrush lying on the dressing table.**

**"Thanks," said Harry, reaching out to place a finger on it, ready to leave.**

**"Wait a moment," said Hagrid, looking around. "Harry, where's Hedwig?"**

Harry and the other teens felt sad. "I don't want that to happen to Ferene," said Harry to himself. Hermione held his hand comfortingly while Ron patted him on the back.

**"She . . . she got hit," said Harry.**

**The realization crashed over him: He felt ashamed of himself as the tears stung his eyes. The owl had been his companion, his one great link with the magical world whenever he had been forced to return to the Dursleys.**

**Hagrid reached out a great hand and patted him painfully on the shoulder.**

**"Never mind," he said gruffly, "Never mind. She had a great old life –"**

**"Hagrid!" said Ted Tonks warningly, as the hairbrush glowed bright blue, and Hagrid only just got his forefinger to it in time.**

"Oh hurry," fretted Molly as if she was really the one expecting them.

**With a jerk behind the navel as though an invisible hook and line had dragged him forward, Harry was pulled into nothingness, spinning uncontrollably, his finger glued to the Portkey as he and Hagrid hurtled away from Mr. Tonks. Second later, Harry's feet slammed onto hard ground and he fell onto his hands and knees in the yard of the Burrow. He heard screams.**

Everyone shared worried looks, most especially the Weasleys. "Dear Merlin, what's happening now?" moaned Lily, moving closer to James.

"Let's hope that nothing bad happened, all right?" said James soothingly although he was worried himself.

**Throwing aside the no longer glowing hairbrush, Harry stood up, swaying slightly, and saw Mrs. Weasley and Ginny running down the steps by the back door as Hagrid, who had also collapsed on landing, clambered laboriously to his feet.**

**"Harry? You are the real Harry? What happened? Where are the others?" cried Mrs. Weasley.**

"What? Aren't the others back yet?" frowned Bill.

"They must have missed the Portkey," said Kingsley slowly. His remark stirred more apprehensions among the others.

"I'm sure none of them are hurt -" said Hermione reassuredly.

"But the title of the chapter is 'The Fallen Warrio'. One – one of them must've -" said Ron.

"All right that's enough speculation," said Sirius over the conversations. "We'll find out soon if you let Charlie read."

"Now that's a first," commented Remus before earning a light glare from Sirius.

**"What d'you mean? Isn't anyone else back?" Harry panted.**

**The answer was clearly etched in Mrs. Weasley's pale face.**

**"The Death Eaters were waiting for us," Harry told her, "We were surrounded the moment we took off – they knew it was tonight – I don't know what happened to anyone else, four of them chased us, it was all we could do to get away, and then Vol****-****de****-de-****mort caught up with us –"**

**He could hear the self-justifying note in his voice, the plea for her to understand why he did not know what had happened to her sons, but –**

**"Thank goodness you're all right," she said, pulling him into a hug he did not feel he deserved.**

"Harry, you deserve every bit of comfort and affection," said Molly to Harry. "Even if that were to happen here, keep in mind that all of us are willing to help you regardless if our lives are in danger."

"But I don't want that to happen," said Harry defiantly. "I don't want anyone here get hurt -"

"You must realise that there are things worth dying for," said Arthur with a tone of finality. "And for us, it is our family and you are part of our family whether you realise it or not."

Both Lily and James smiled. "That goes for us, Arthur." nodded James, thankful that there were others who cared for his son as if he was a part of their family.

Harry couldn't help but be touched with the Weasley patriarch's words. "Thank you," he said sincerely.

"Dad's right, you're family." Grinned Ron. "You're like my younger brother -"

"What? Why I'm your younger brother -?" protested Harry.

"Because I'm older than you and not to mention taller since you're pretty much a scrawny git," laughed Ron. "No offense Mr. Potter." he added as he turned to James.

"None taken," smiled James.

**"Haven't go' any brandy, have yeh, Molly?" asked Hagrid a little shakily, "Fer medicinal purposes?"**

Almost everyone, especially the adults who knew Hagrid personally, snorted and chuckled. "Really now? Medicinal purposes?" laughed Sirius.

"If it were for medicinal, then healing potions shouldn't have been invented in the first place," said Remus with a smile.

**She could have summoned it by magic, but as she hurried back toward the crooked house, Harry knew that she wanted to hide her face. He turned to Ginny and she answered his unspoken plea for information at once.**

**"Ron and Tonks should have been back first, but they missed their Portkey, it came back without them," she said, pointing at a rusty oil can lying on the ground nearby.**

Ron and Tonks frowned, thinking for their other selves' safety. They didn't notice Hermione and Remus glancing their way in worry.

**"And that one," she pointed at an ancient sneaker, "should have been Dad and Fred's, they were supposed to be second. You and Hagrid were third and," she checked her watch, "if they made it, George and Lupin ****o****ught to be back in about a minute."**

"The other Forge's going to be fine," said Fred reassuredly. George could only hope so.

**Mrs. Weasley reappeared carrying a bottle of brandy, which she handed to Hagrid. He uncorked it and drank it straight down in one.**

**"Mum!" shouted Ginny pointing to a spot several feet away.**

Everyone drew relieved sighs. "Thank Merlin he's all right, Remus." Said Lily, referring to the other Remus in the book.

"So did I," nodded James. "I don't know what I'd do if if your other self's the one who – who -" he shook his head, unable to continue his trail of thought.

Remus smiled, touched that his friends cared to him, regardless it wasn't exactly him. "It'll be fine."

**A blue light had appeared in the darkness: It grew larger and brighter, and Lupin and George appeared, spinning and then falling. **

**Harry knew immediately that there was something wrong:**

Charlie scanned the next few words and blanched which everyone noticed.

**Lupin was supporting George, who was unconscious and whose face was covered in blood.**

Fred and George were now losing colour from their faces, shocked of what they heard. Molly let out a cry and rushed to her son, hugging him tightly. "Oh George!"

"Mum!" gasped George. "You're choking me!"

"Come off it," said Fred hastily but determinedly. "It hasn't happened here yet. And I doubt I'll let anything happen to my brother!" He shot a look at Charlie and pleaded him to continue.

**Harry ran forward and seized George's legs. Together, he and Lupin carried George into the house and through the kitchen to the living room, where they laid him on the sofa. As the lamplight fell across George's head, Ginny gasped and Harry's stomach lurched: One of George's ears was missing.**

Nathan looked horrified and crawled over to his parents for comfort.

Molly tightened her hold of George who winced slightly. "Come on, Mum. I'm not hurt -" he said weakly.

"I don't want any of my children to get hurt," she said softly.

Arthur decided to pull Molly back to their seat to give more space to George, to which he son was grateful. "George is strong." He said firmly to her.

**The side of his head and neck were drenched in wet, shockingly scarlet blood.**

**No sooner had Mrs. Weasley bent over her son that Lupin grabbed Harry by the upper arm and dragged him, none too gently,**

"What is your other self doing?" demanded Lily to Remus, her protectiveness for her son rising almost immediately.

Remus knew what his other self was doing and said apologetically, "I believe my other self is making sure that Harry is…Harry. Most likely he's going to interrogate him with a question that only the real Harry would know."

Lily let out a sigh while James comforted her. "Of course, you're right," she said slowly. "They didn't expect that they'll be found so easily -"

"But it's a good thing that they didn't know which is the real Harry, or the whole plan would be in naught." grunted Moody.

"Thanks for pointing that out, Mad-Eye!" said Tonks with a huff, annoyed that he didn't really consider their feelings.

**back into the kitchen, where Hagrid was still attempting to ease his bulk through the back door.**

**"Oi!" said Hagrid indignantly, "Le' go of him! Le' go of Harry!"**

**Lupin ignored him.**

**"What creature sat in the corner the first time that Harry Potter visited my office at Hogwarts?" he said, giving Harry a small shake. "Answer me!"**

"Hm, was it a Boggart?" answered Harry thoughtfully, trying to remember his third year. "Because that was our first lesson."

Remus chuckled. "No, I don't think so. It's probably a Grindylow."

**"A – a grindylow in a tank, wasn't it?" Lupin released Harry and fell back against a kitchen cupboard.**

**Lupin released Harry and fell back against a kitchen cupboard.**

**"Wha' was tha' about?" roared Hagrid.**

**"I'm sorry, Harry, but I had to check," said Lupin tersely. "We've been betrayed. Vo****-o****ld****-****emo****-****r****t****t knew that you were being moved tonight and the only people who could have told him were directly involved in the plan. You might have been an impostor."**

Those who didn't understand much nodded, finally getting it.

**"So why aren' you checkin' me?" panted Hagrid, still struggling with the door.**

**"You're half-giant," said Lupin, looking up at Hagrid. "The Polyjuice Potion is designed for human use only."**

**"None of the Order would have told Vold****-****em****-m****ort we were moving tonight," said Harry. The idea was dreadful to him, he could not believe it of any of them. "V****-v****ol****-****de****m-****mort only caught up with me toward the end, he didn't know which one I was in the beginning. If he'd been in on the plan he'd have known from the start I was the one with Hagrid."**

"We already had that figured out earlier," said Bill.

"You mean when Harry uses the Disarming spell?" inquired Nathan.

Bill nodded.

**"Vol****-****d****-d****emort caught up with you?" said Lupin sharply. "What happened? How did you escape?"**

**Harry explained how the Death Eaters pursuing them had seemed to recognize him as the true Harry, how they had abandoned the chase, how they must have summoned Vo****-l****lde****-****mort, who had appeared just before he and Hagrid had reached the sanctuary of Tonks's parents.**

**"They recognized you? But how? What had you done?"**

**"I . . ." Harry tried to remember; the whole journey seemed like a blur of panic and confusion. "I saw Stan Shunpike . . . . You know, the bloke who was the conductor on the Knight Bus? And I tried to Disarm him instead of – well, he doesn't know what he's doing, does he? He must be Imperiused!"**

**Lupin looked aghast.**

"Your other self seemed to dislike the answer," mused Tonks.

"Only because Harry almost caught himself," said Remus reasonably.

"It makes sense," agreed Kingsley. "It's already war. Disarming is no longer an option while you're fighting for your life."

Harry frowned. "But what if I can't take someone else's life? I don't want to be a murderer -"

"You will have to when you decide what is best," said Kingsley wisely. "If it is to save a hundred of lives, then you must but keep in mind to carry that burden once you've done that. To take a life just for the wrong reasons will make someone a murderer."

"If you wish to become an Auror," added Mad-Eye. "Then you should have the mind and responsibility to do what needs to be done for the sake of everyone's safety. An Auror is not for those with a weak heart and mind."

"Yeah…you're right," conceded Harry but he still felt that he didn't want to kill.

"But," said Tonks to add a final note, "if you are not prepared to kill, then use other means to incapacitate the opponent. Disarming can be used sparingly at only a given moment."

**"Harry, the time for Disarming is past! These people are trying to capture and kill you! At least Stun if you aren't prepared to kill!"**

"I already got that explained to me," sighed Harry.

**"We were hundreds of feet up! Stan's not himself, and if I Stunned him and he'd fallen, he'd have died the same as if I'd used Avada Kedavra!** **Expelliarmus saved me from Vol****-****de****-****mort two years ago," Harry added defiantly.**

"It doesn't mean that it'll help you most of the time," shrugged Bill thinking of all of encounters he faced while he worked at Egypt, trying to find treasure and rare artefacts for the goblins of Gringotts.

**Lupin was reminding him of the sneering Hufflepuff Zacharias Smith, who had jeered at Harry for wanting to teach Dumbledore's Army how to Disarm.**

"Dumbledore's Army?" repeated McGonagall who spoke just now. "What is the meaning of this, Albus?"

Dumbledore thought for a moment and said, "I can't be certain but I do have a guess -"

"Take a guess," piped up Nathan, earning an amused smile from Lily and James.

The headmaster chuckled. "Well then, an event must had occurred at Hogwarts that caused them to learn Defense on their own and in hiding -"

"Why?" inquired Hermione who looked aghast to hear that they would be learning Defense on their own.

"It's most probably of the new Defense professor that I may not have personally hired," assumed Dumbledore as a number of scenarios entered his mind. "There is a rule that if the current headmaster of Hogwarts is unable to find a suitable professor for a particular subject, the Ministry will be the one who will hire one that is suitable to their standards."

"And that's the root cause of this – this secret group lesson?" said McGonagall with a frown.

"The Minister might still be Cornelius in that alternate world," mused Dumbledore, earning negative reactions from the others. "We all know that he tried to discredit Mr. Potter when he declared that Voldemort came back -"

"Luckily enough the people here had more sense than that fat git and demanded him to step down as Minister for his stupidity." interjected Tonks.

"- therefore the next step that Cornelius would've taken is to send a spy to Hogwarts to watch every movement," continued Dumbledore. "by being as a professor, particularly as Defense professor."

"That's horrible!" cried Lily. "The students' education will be at risk! What on earth is he thinking?"

"That's the thing, Lily," snorted Sirius. "He's not thinking at all." Harry and the others stifled snickers. "I've always wondered how he ended up as Minister in the first place. It made more sense if Amelia were Minister instead of him."

Charlie decided to continue reading after everyone settled down a bit.

**"Yes, Harry," said Lupin with painful restraint, "and a great number of Death Eaters witnessed that happening! Forgive me, but it was a very unusual move then, under the imminent threat of death. Repeating it tonight in front of Death Eaters who either witnessed or heard about the first occasion was close to suicidal!"**

**"So you think I should have killed Stan Shunpike?" said Harry angrily.**

"No, my other self is saying to not be too obvious," said Remus placatingly. "especially if the enemy is bound to find out all of your actions and behaviour to use it against you."

"Well said," nodded Kingsley.

**"Of course not," said Lupin, "but the Death Eaters – frankly, most people! – would have expected you to attack back! Expelliarmus is a useful spell, Harry, but the Death Eaters seem to think it is your signature move, and I urge you not to let it become so!"**

**Lupin was making Harry feel idiotic, and yet there was still a grain of defiance inside him.**

"All Moony's have that kind of ability," said James airily before getting hit with a pillow on his face. "Hey!"

The others chuckled. "You should've seen that coming, dear." Said Lily with a small smile.

**"I won't blast people out of my way just because they're there," said Harry, "That's Vo****-****ld****-****em****-****ort's job."**

"Hear hear!" said Harry and the other teens and young adults.

**Lupin's retort was lost: Finally succeeding in squeezing through the door, Hagrid staggered to a chair and sat down; it collapsed beneath him. Ignoring his mingled oaths and apologies, Harry addressed Lupin again.****"Will George be okay?"**

The Weasleys tensed again, afraid but anticipating for the answer.

**All Lupin's frustration with Harry seemed to drain away at the question.****"I think so, although there's no chance of replacing his ear, not when it's been cursed off –"**

Molly stifled a cry. Fred could only shake his head. George grimaced slightly. "I guess there won't be any ear jokes from me if that were to happen to me."

"I doubted if you can stop yourself from making one," refuted Fred as the corner of his lips twitched upward.

**There was a scuffling from outside. Lupin dived for the back door; Harry leapt over Hagrid's legs and sprinted into the yard.**

**Two figures had appeared in the yard, and as Harry ran toward them he realized they were Hermione,**

Ron let out a relieved sigh, as did Harry and the others. "Thank Merlin you're safe!" he said as he embraced Hermione.

"You know it's not really me, is it?" said Hermione amusedly but she couldn't help but be pleased that Ron would be so caring regardless if it was really her or her other self from a different dimension.

"Come on you two lovebirds, cut it out!" teased George. "There are children here! Have a conscience!"

"Just for the sake of asking, are you even dating?" said Fred, eyeing them with a beady yet amused look.

"No we're not," both Ron and Hermione lied. Both Lily and Molly shared a knowing look; they could tell that the two were hiding something but decided not to persist to let them initiate to let everyone know.

**now returning to her normal appearance, and Kingsley, both clutching a bent coat hanger, Hermione flung herself into Harry's arms, but Kingsley showed no pleasure at the sight of any of them.**

"Ah, same as the other Remus," chirped Tonks, glancing at Kingsley.

Kingsley could only shrug. "It's best to be safe than never."

**Over Hermione's shoulder Harry saw him raise his wand and point it at Lupin's chest.****"The last words Albus Dumbledore spoke to the pair of us!"**

**"'Harry is the best hope we have. Trust him,'" said Lupin calmly.**

"But no pressure," said Harry sarcastically. "Gee thanks professor," he said to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore chuckled while McGonagall pursed her lips to stop the urge of twitching her lips upwards.

**Kingsley turned his wand on Harry, but Lupin said, "It's him, I've checked!"**

**"All right, all right!" said Kingsley, stowing his wand back beneath his cloak, "But somebody betrayed us! They knew, they knew it was tonight!"**

**"So it seems," replied Lupin, "but apparently they did not realize that there would be seven Harrys."**

"Small comfort," said Bill wryly.

**"Small comfort!" snarled Kingsley.**

Bill blinked while Charlie said lightly, "Stop repeating Bill."

**"Who else is back?"**

**"Only Harry, Hagrid, George, and me."**

**Hermione stifled a little moan behind her hand.**

**"What happened to you?" Lupin asked Kingsley.**

**"Followed by five, injured two, might've killed one," Kingsley reeled off.**

"I hope he killed off Bellatrix," said Sirius to himself. James and Remus grimaced; they knew exactly how Sirius felt with his relatives who sided with Voldemort, especially Bellatrix who they felt was the worst of them all.

**"Yeah he did," Hermione said. "And we saw You-Know-Who as well, he joined the chase halfway through but vanished pretty quickly. Remus, he can –"**

**"Fly," supplied Harry. "I saw him too, he came after Hagrid and me."**

**"So that's why he left, to follow you!" said Kingsley, "I couldn't understand why he'd vanished. But what made him change targets?"**

**"Harry behaved a little too kindly to Stan Shunpike," said Lupin.**

"How unfortunate of him," said Lily softly, thinking about the pimply-faced conductor of the Knight Bus.

**"Stan?" repeated Hermione. "But I thought he was in Azkaban?"**

**Kingsley let out a mirthless laugh.**

**"Hermione, there's obviously been a mass breakout which the Ministry has hushed up. Travers's hood fell off when I cursed him, he's supposed to be inside too. But what happened to you, Remus? Where's George?"**

**"He lost an ear," said Lupin.**

**"lost an - ?" repeated Hermione in a high voice.**

Charlie read the next line and scowled deeply. "Bloody Hell!" he growled.

**"Snape's work," said Lupin.**

"What?!" nearly everyone reacted badly as soon as Sirius read the next line loudly.

"How dare he did this to my son!" shouted Molly angrily as she grabbed her wand.

"Mum, my other self isn't exactly you son – well, you know what I mean here -" pointed out George but he was shocked to hear who had done it to his counterpart.

"I knew he's no good! Dumbledore, we should -" said James, rounding himself to face the older wizard.

"Everyone, calm down." Said Dumbledore firmly and nearly everyone fell silent. "Do understand that what has happened in the alternate world we're reading is different from ours. If I have to repeat what I said before, then I will: I trust Severus. He would never betray us."

"But how can you be sure? Why won't you tell us?" demanded Sirius.

"It is not my right to disclose what is between him and I and I wish all of us should respect it," he answered serenely. "If Severus wishes to inform you, then he will. But at the moment, please believe in my word."

No one dared to speak, knowing that Dumbledore's mind wouldn't change. Lily's mind was reeling; she couldn't believe how much Severus Snape had changed. Sure, he was clearly different now - since the past year, he became more secretive and monotonous but he wasn't as hateful and demeaning. But she couldn't shake off the thought that he would go farther than she initially thought. She let out a mental sigh, she should at least give Severus (in this dimension) the benefit of the doubt.

Sirius let out a deep sigh, extracting his pent-up frustration at the headmaster's stubborn answer, and motioned Charlie to read on.

**"Snape?" shouted Harry. "You didn't say –"**

**"He lost his hood during the chase. Sectumsempra was always a specialty of Snape's.**

"What is Se-seckt-trumsemprauh?" piped up Nathan, having difficulty of pronouncing the spell.

"It's Sectumsempra," corrected Remus with a wry smile. "For all I know, it's not written in books; therefore I believe Snape must've created it himself few years ago. He was considered one of best students at Arithmancy other than Potions."

"What can it do?" asked Ron in curiosity.

"It's a combination of a Cutting hex and Severing Charm," said Sirius in disgust. "I've seen some Death Eaters used it but I don't think it really shows its true extent like how Snape uses it."

"Is there a way to counter it?" inquired Hermione who didn't like the sound of the curse.

"Not that we know, but knowing that Snape invented it, he would've created a spell to counter it." said Remus thoughtfully.

**I wish I could say I'd paid him back in kind, but it was all I could do to keep George on the broom after he was injured, he was losing so much blood."**

"Thank goodness," sighed Molly in worry as she leaned to Arthur's side.

**Silence fell between the four of them as they looked up at the sky. There was no sign of movement; the stars stared back, unblinking, indifferent, unobscured by flying friends. Where was Ron? Where were Fred and Mr. Weasley? Where were Bill, Fleur, Tonks, Mad-Eye, and Mundungus?**

**"Harry, give us a hand!" called Hagrid hoarsely from the door, in which he was stuck again. Glad of something to do, Harry pulled him free, the headed through the empty kitchen and back into the sitting room, where Mrs. Weasley and Ginny were still tending to George. Mrs. Weasley had staunched his bleeding now, and by the lamplight Harry saw a clean gaping hole where George's ear had been.**

George winced slightly for his counterpart.

**"How is he?"**

**Mrs. Weasley looked around and said, "I can't make it grow back, not when it's been removed by Dark Magic. But it could've been so much worse . . . . He's alive." **

**"Yeah," said Harry. "Thank God."**

**"Did I hear someone else in the yard?" Ginny asked.**

**"Hermione and Kingsley," said Harry.**

**"Thank goodness," Ginny whispered. They looked at each other;**

Charlie read the next few lines and frowned slightly, but he knew that it wasn't the same in this world (and he thought it would be amusing to see both Harry and Ginny's reactions).

**Harry wanted to hug her, hold on to her;**

Ginny let out a groan while Harry looked half-heartedly amused at his other self's thoughts of the only female Weasley girl. "Will you just skip that part? It's giving me the shivers!" complained Ginny, thinking her other self is mad to like someone like Harry Potter.

"Affected, are you?" smirked Harry, wanting to annoy her to get back at her. Lily supressed the urge to scold her son for egging the young female redhead.

"And you're not?" she retorted with an irritated look.

"He and I are the same but different," he said simply with a shrug. "He likes Ginny in that world, and I…well, I like to annoy you. You get easily ruffled." He ended with a grin.

She was about to say something back but thought of his words. "…I guess. I mean, I suppose my other self thinks that the other Harry is better than you -"

"Hey I take offense on that!" said Harry in mock indignation. Ron and Hermione shook their heads at their best friend's antics, while both Lily and James couldn't help but smile at the scene because it somehow reminded them of their youth but they knew that it was different from theirs at the same time.

"All right, that's enough dallying between the two of you," said Moody suddenly, surprising the two. "You, keep reading and no exaggerating." He barked at Charlie who pouted at him.

**he did not even care much that Mrs. Weasley was there, but before he could act on the impulse, there was a great crash from the kitchen.**

"Who might that be?" said Tonks.

**"I'll prove who I am, Kingsley, after I've seen my son, now back off if you know what's good for you!"**

"That must've been my other self," noted Arthur; he knew exactly how the other Arthur was feeling and it was hard to keep everything together with their third son who estranged himself from the family. He just wished that the other Weasley would survive their war as did his own family.

Molly could tell what her husband was thinking and held his hand with hers comfortingly. Arthur looked at her and smiled weakly. "They'll be fine. We will too." She whispered.

"I could only hope so," he responded.

**Harry had never heard Mr. Weasley shout like that before.**

"So did we," nodded Bill while the other Weasley children agreed.

**He burst into the living room, his bald patch gleaming with sweat, his spectacles askew, Fred right behind him, both pale but uninjured.**

"At least your Fred is safe," pointed out George before getting hit on the head by Fred. "Ow! What's that for?"

"That's not exactly comforting," he said with a frown. "George shouldn't get hurt as well."

George knew what his twin really meant and said sincerely, "Don't worry. I won't get caught."

**"Arthur!" sobbed Mrs. Weasley. "Oh thank goodness!"**

**"How is he?"**

**Mr. Weasley dropped to his knees beside George. For the first time since Harry had known him, Fred seemed to be lost for words. He gaped over the back of the sofa at his twin's wound as if he could not believe what he was seeing.**

**Perhaps roused by the sound of Fred and their father's arrival, George stirred.**

**"How do you feel, Georgie?" whispered Mrs. Weasley.**

**George's fingers groped for the side of his head.**

The corners of Sirius's lips twitched slightly as he scanned the next word.

**"Saintlike," he murmured.**

Fred realised what the other George was saying and snorted. "That was lame."

"No, it isn't." Argued George but he was grinning, also Fred. "Okay, maybe it is but who cares?"

**"What's wrong with him?" croaked Fred, looking terrified. "Is his mind affected?"**

George shot a smirk at Fred who pointedly ignored it. "You got it bad," commented Ron.

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that, Ronniekinns," said Fred with a huff. Tonks and the others (excluding Mad-Eye, McGonagall and Kingsley) chuckled at the sight.

**"Saintlike," repeated George, opening his eyes and looking up at his brother. "You see. . . I'm holy. Holey, Fred, geddit?"**

"Like I said, lame." Reiterated Fred.

**Mrs. Weasley sobbed harder than ever. Color flooded Fred's pale face.**

**"Pathetic," he told George. "Pathetic! With the whole wide world of ear-related humor before you, you go for holey?"**

**"Ah well," said George, grinning at his tear-soaked mother. "You'll be able to tell us apart now, anyway, Mum."** **He looked around.** **"Hi, Harry – you are Harry, right?"**

**"Yeah, I am," said Harry, moving closer to the sofa.**

**"Well, at least we got you back okay," said George. "Why aren't Ron and Bill huddled round my sickbed?"**

"What's taking them so long?" said Bill in concern.

"It's certain that they didn't manage to arrive to their safe points on time, then -" grunted Mad-Eye.

"Don't you finish what you're saying, Mad-Eye!" said Tonks crossly. She didn't want to think anything horrible what would've happened to her other self and the others, even if she was an Auror.

Moody snorted. "There is still that possibility."

**"They're not back yet, George," said Mrs. Weasley. George's grin faded. Harry glanced at Ginny and motioned to her to accompany him back outside. As they walked through the kitchen she said in a low voice.**

**"Ron and Tonks should be back by now. They didn't have a long journey; Auntie Muriel's not that far from here."**

"That's horrible," cringed Ron. "Muriel's a nightmare."

"Ronald! Respect Aunt Muriel!" scolded Molly him.

Ron wisely kept his mouth shut but rolled his eyes as soon as his mother looked away.

**Harry said nothing. He had been trying to keep fear at bay ever since reaching the Burrow, but now it enveloped him, seeming to crawl over his skin, throbbing in his chest, clogging his throat. As they walked down the back steps into the dark yard, Ginny took his hand.**

"Not even a word, you two." Said Ginny with a glare, eyeing both Fred and George who were about to say something.

**Kingsley was striding backward and forward, glancing up at the sky every time he turned.**

"Worried for me, eh King?" smirked Tonks, glancing at her senior Auror.

"I am, not just only you." grinned Kingsley before she smacked him on the arm.

Sirius began making gestures to Remus with a mischievous grin on his face, motioning to Tonks. Remus scowled at him and fingered his wand while giving the Dog Animagus a hard look. Both Lily and James saw the voiceless argument between the two and sighed, decided not to intrude on their squabble, whereas Hermione and Ginny were whispering, glancing their way to Tonks and Remus's direction.

Charlie shook his head. "Things are bound to happen one way or another," he muttered to himself before clearing his throat loudly to gain everyone's attention and continued to read.

**Harry was reminded of Uncle Vernon pacing the living room a million years ago. Hagrid, Hermione, and Lupin stood shoulder to shoulder, gazing upward in silence. None of them looked around when Harry and Ginny joined their silent vigil.**

**The minutes stretched into what might as well have been years. The slightest breath of wind made them all jump and turn toward the whispering bush or tree in the hope that one of the missing Order members might leap unscathed from its leaves –**

**And then a broom materialized directly above them and streaked toward the ground –**

**"It's them!" screamed Hermione.**

Everyone let out relieved sighs. "He's safe!" said Harry who didn't want his counterpart to feel more guilty if one of his most important persons would die just because of him.

"Thank Merlin," said Hermione thankfully. Ron couldn't help but be grateful and happy at the same time that he had friends like Hermione and Harry.

**Tonks landed in a long skid that sent earth and pebbles everywhere.**

"It'll take more than a bunch of Death Eaters to defeat me and any other selves," huffed Tonks.

**"Remus!" Tonks cried as she staggered off the broom into Lupin's arms.**

Sirius didn't wait any longer and wolf-whistled. Remus was about to say something but Charlie's voice overrode his.

**His face was set and white: He seemed unable to speak, Ron tripped dazedly toward Harry and Hermione.**

**"You're okay," he mumbled, before Hermione flew at him and hugged him tightly.**

**"I thought – I thought –"**

**"'M all right," said Ron, patting her on the back. "'M fine."**

**"Ron was great," said Tonks warmly, relinquishing her hold on Lupin. "Wonderful. Stunned one of the Death Eaters, straight to the head, and when you're aiming at a moving target from a flying broom –"**

"Brilliant," grinned Harry. "D'you think you can do that?" he asked while looking at Ron.

Ron simply shrugged. "Can't say. Haven't tried it, really."

**"You did?" said Hermione, gazing up at Ron with her arms still around his neck.**

**"Always the tone of surprise," he said a little grumpily, breaking free. **

"Upset are you?" teased Fred at his younger brother.

"Shove it," was Ron's response.

**"Are we the last back?"**

**"No," said Ginny, "we're still waiting for Bill and Fleur and Mad-Eye and Mundungus. I'm going to tell Mum and Dad you're okay, Ron –"**

**She ran back inside.**

**"So what kept you? What happened?" Lupin sounded almost angry at Tonks.**

"Hey hey, don't get angry with your lovely wife," said Sirius as if he was talking to the other Remus, but he was convinced that Remus and Tonks would end up the same way as the other couple if he had it his way.

"You're really trying my patience, Sirius." Said Remus lightly and his eyes were saying otherwise.

"Oh really now?"

"That's enough, Mr. Black." said McGonagall, who felt that he was pushing his luck. "You may continue what it is you are doing when we are done reading."

"I agree," smiled Dumbledore serenely. "There is a saying - never make anyone angry, especially a werewolf for he will bite…ah you bottoms. Quite similar to Karma in Muggle sayings."

**"Bellatrix," said Tonks. "She wants me quite as much as she wants Harry, Remus, She tried very hard to kill me. I just wish I'd got her, I owe Bellatrix.**

"Shame she didn't get her," said Sirius disappointedly.

"She'll get what she deserves, just wait for it," said James helpfully.

**But we definitely injured Rodolphus . . . . Then we got to Ron's Auntie Muriel's and we missed our Portkey and she was fussing over us –"**

**A muscle was jumping in Lupin's jaw. He nodded, but seemed unable to say anything else.**

**"So what happened to you lot?" Tonks asked, turning to Harry, Hermione, and Kingsley.**

**They recounted the stories of their own journeys, but all the time the continued absence of Bill, Fleur, Mad-Eye, and Mundungus seemed to lie upon them like a frost, its icy bite harder and harder to ignore.**

"Which one is it?" whispered Ginny to herself. She didn't want to think that either any of them would be the fallen warrior, most especially Bill regardless if it really was her brother or from another dimension.

**"I'm going to have to get back to Downing Street, I should have been there an hour ago," said Kingsley finally, after a last sweeping gaze at the sky. "Let me know when they're back,."**

**Lupin nodded. With a wave to the others, Kingsley walked away into the darkness toward the gate. Harry thought he heard the faintest pop as Kingsley Disapparated just beyond the Burrow's boundaries.**

**Mr. And Mrs. Weasley came racing down the back steps, Ginny behind them. Both parents hugged Ron before turning to Lupin and Tonks.**

**"Thank you," said Mrs. Weasley, "for our sons."**

**"Don't be silly, Molly," said Tonks at once.**

**"How's George?" asked Lupin.**

"I'm beginning to wonder myself, really." Said George.

**"What's wrong with him?" piped up Ron.**

**"He's lost –"**

**But the end of Mrs. Weasley's sentence was drowned in a general outcry. A thestral had just soared into sight and landed a few feet from them. Bill and Fleur slid from its back, windswept but unhurt.**

"That's good to know," said Bill who was worried that his counterpart hadn't come back sooner. "But then, that means -"

"- it's probably Dung," said Fred. "I doubt Mad-Eye's the one who got snuffed out -"

"That's true," agreed Tonks. "Maddie's too tough." She saw her mentor giving her a look, she gave him a cheeky grin in return.

Charlie scanned and his eyes bulged a bit at the two words. Gulping slightly, he continued to read on.

**"Bill! Thank God, thank God –"**

**Mrs. Weasley ran forward, but the hug Bill bestowed upon her was perfunctory. Looking directly at his father, he said, "Mad-Eye's dead."**

Everyone fell silent after hearing this. They couldn't believe it. Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, dead. Even if he was from another world different from theirs, it sounded surreal for them. Dumbledore was saddened to hear this, that one of his closest friends would die (even if it was the other Mad-Eye).

Tonks was close in tears, looking at Moody sadly. "I can't -" she began.

"It happens," cut across Moody who didn't seem perturbed. "One way or another, someone's going to d -"

"Don't say that!" she said angrily. "You're not going to get yourself killed -!"

"- better me than Potter," he said bluntly. His words struck Harry the most and he felt terrible for this. "Don't beat yourself up," continued the Ex-Auror. "It's bound to happen. You should know best that everyone here is willing to risk their life for your sake, for the sake of the Wizarding world. Therefore, even if one of us dies, don't let our deaths be in vain and continue fighting. Your counterpart obviously knows this too. _CONSTANT VIGILANCE I SAY!_" he roared in the end, causing everyone to jump in their seats.

"I know that," growled Harry, frustrated that people would do this for him. "But I don't want any one of you to be…just because of me."

"We're all in this together, mate." Said Ron, patting his roughly on the back.

"Through thick and thin," chimed Fred.

"We're not going to let you do this all on your own, remember that." Said Hermione to him.

"That's why you'll be learning more this coming weeks once we finally finished the book," said Sirius firmly. "It's only right to keep you prepared for the worst. Everyone else will."

Lily had a hesitant look on her face, and James knew what she was thinking. "It's all for the best." He said slowly. "He's almost of age and they're right. He's better off being prepared for what's to come rather than being sheltered without knowing how to defend himself."

"I just wish…he doesn't need to do this at all," she whispered. "But we'll be there by his side no matter what."

"Of course we are," smiled James.

"And me too!" piped up Nathan, surprising both his parents and the others nearby.

Harry blinked at his younger brother and a small smile grace on his lips. "I'd rather if you keep yourself safe," he said sincerely. "You're not of age yet -"

"So do you, you're not of age." countered Nathan. His expression reminded the Marauders and the professors of Lily when she was berating someone.

"But I will be in a couple of months," he reminded him. "Come over here, you." He gestured his younger brother to his side and gave him a light headlock while ruffling his head. "I will be very sad if something bad happens to you so just listen to both Mum and Dad and everyone else here, all right?"

Nathan protested but relented. "I don't want you to be gone too," he said honestly. He quickly untangled himself from his brother's arms and moved back to Lily and James.

Harry said, "I can't make any promises but I'll try," he said with a grin before motioning Charlie to continue reading.

**Nobody spoke, nobody moved. Harry felt as though something inside him was falling, falling through the earth, leaving him forever.**

**"We saw it," said Bill; Fleur nodded, tear tracks glittering on her cheeks in the light from the kitchen window. "It happened just after we broke out of the circle: Mad-Eye and Dung were close by us, they were heading north too. V****v****old****-****e****e-****mort – he can fly – went straight for them. Dung panicked, I heard him cry out, Mad-Eye tried to stop him, but he Disapparated.**

"Why that wretched -" hissed Tonks but Remus calmed her down by placing a hand on her shoulder. Sirius quickly saw this and grinned even further.

**Vol****-****de****-****m****m****ort's curse hit Mad-Eye full in the face, he fell backward off his broom and – there was nothing we could do, nothing, we had half a dozen of them on our own tail –"**

**Bill's voice broke.**

"There's a huge possibility they won't be able to find the body, then." Said Moody. "Blast it."

**"Of course you couldn't have done anything," said Lupin.**

**They all stood looking at each other. Harry could not quite comprehend it. Mad-Eye dead; it could not be . . . . Mad-Eye, so tough, so brave, the consummate survivor . . .**

**At last it seemed to dawn on everyone, though nobody said it, that there was no point of waiting in the yard anymore, and in silence they followed Mr. And Mrs. Weasley back into the Burrow, and into the living room, where Fred and George were laughing together.**

**"What's wrong?" said Fred, scanning their faces as they entered, "What's happened? Who's -?"**

**"Mad-Eye," said Mr. Weasley, "Dead."**

**The twins' grins turned to grimaces of shock. Nobody seemed to know what to do. Tonks was crying silently into a handkerchief: She had been close to Mad-Eye, Harry knew, his favorite and his protégée at the Ministry of Magic. **

"And you won't even admit it," huffed Tonks; her eyes were no longer watery and she was returning back to her usual perky self.

"You don't need to hear my confirmation," said Moody gruffy but he inwardly agreed with the other Harry's words that Tonks was his best student in years and was proud of her.

"You know Mad-Eye, he is your favourite." Said Kingsley.

"Shut it, Kingsley."

**Hagrid, who had sat down on the floor in the corner where he had most space, was dabbing at his eyes with his tablecloth-sized handkerchief.**

**Bill walked over to the sideboard and pulled out a bottle of fire-whisky and some glasses.**

**"Here," he said, and with a wave of his wand, and sent twelve full glasses soaring through the room to each of them, holding the thirteenth aloft. "Mad-Eye."**

**"Mad-Eye," they all said, and drank.**

**"Mad-Eye," echoed Hagrid, a little late, with a hiccup. The firewhisky seared Harry's throat.**

"But he's not of age yet," frowned Lily.

"Didn't stop us," shrugged Sirius, referring himself, James and even Remus during their youth.

**It seemed to burn feeling back into him, dispelling the numbness and sense of unreality firing him with something that was like courage.**

**"So Mundungus disappeared?" said Lupin, who had drained his own glass in one.**

**The atmosphere changed at once. Everybody looked tense, watching Lupin, both wanting him to go on, it seemed to Harry, and slightly afraid of what they might hear.**

**"I know what you're thinking," said Bill, "and I wondered that too, on the way back here, because they seemed to be expecting us, didn't they? But Mundungus can't have betrayed us. They didn't know there would be seven Harrys, that confused them the moment we appeared, and in case you've forgotten, it was Mundungus who suggested that little bit of skullduggery.**

"That was surprising to hear," said Ginny. "I've never thought of him suggesting any plans, really."

"Same here," nodded Tonks in anger. She couldn't forgive what the thief had done to the other Moody and she decided to keep a closer eye on him in this world. "He doesn't seem to be the type to come up with good ones."

"He might've gotten that from someone else," guessed Ron and some stared at him. "What? There's that possibility. He's a thief anyway so he might've overhead someone making weird suggestions and there's that, seven Potters riding in the night sky."

"Fair point," agreed Kingsley. "It is still a good plan nevertheless."

**Why wouldn't he have told them the essential point? I think Dung panicked, it's as simple as that. He didn't want to come in the first place, but Mad-Eye made him, and You-Know-Who went straight for them. It was enough to make anyone panic."**

**"You-Know-Who acted exactly as Mad-Eye expected him to," sniffed Tonks.**

"My counterpart should really start saying Voldemort," frowned Tonks. She didn't want to think that her other self was afraid of saying a name.

**"Mad-Eye said he'd expect the real Harry to be with the toughest, most skilled Aurors. He chased Mad-Eye first, and when Mundungus gave them away he switched to Kingsley. . . . "**

**"Yes, and zat eez all very good," snapped Fleur, "but still eet does not explain 'ow zey know we were moving 'Arry tonight, does eet? Somebody must 'ave been careless. Somebody let slip ze date to an outsider. It is ze only explanation for zem knowing ze date but not ze 'ole plan."**

"And there's still that loophole," frowned Arthur. "How did they know that they're going to move Harry at exactly the same time?"

"We all know that Snape relayed the information to Snake-face," snarled Sirius. "But the question is, who exactly relayed the information to him? It's possible that person's also a spy against us and we have to be more careful."

His words earned nods from the others. "We can think up of a number of suspects but we can't be sure." Said Remus finally. "We might be able to know in the later chapters."

"Fair point," agreed Charlie.

**She glared around at them all, tear tracks still etched on her beautiful face, silently daring any of them to contradict her. Nobody did.****The only sound to break the silence was that of Hagrid hiccupping from behind his handkerchief. Harry glanced at Hagrid, who had just risked his own life to save Harry's – Hagrid, whom he loved, whom he trusted, who had once been tricked into giving Vol****-****d****d****em****-****ort crucial information in exchange for a dragon's egg. . . .**

**"No," Harry said aloud, and they all looked at him, surprised: The firewhisky seemed to have amplified his voice. "I mean . . . if somebody made a mistake," Harry went on, "and let something slip, I know they didn't mean to do it. It's not their fault," he repeated, again a little louder than he would usually have spoken. "We've got to trust each other. I trust all of you, I don't think anyone in this room would ever** **sell me to Vol****-****de****-****m****m-****ort."**

"Hear hear," smiled James proudly.

**More silence followed his words. They were all looking at him; Harry felt a little hot again, and drank some more firewhisky for something to do.****As he drank, he thought of Mad-Eye. Mad-Eye had always been scathing about Dumbledore's willingness to trust people.**

**"Well said, Harry," said Fred unexpectedly.**

**"Year, 'ear, 'ear," said George, with half a glance at Fred, the corner of whose mouth twitched.**

**Lupin was wearing an odd expression as he looked at Harry. It was close to pitying.**

"And what is that look supposed to mean?" inquired James, raising an eyebrow at Remus.

Remus simply shrugged in return, unable to give out a speculation.

**"You think I'm a fool?" demanded Harry.**

**"No, I think you're like James," said Lupin, "who would have regarded it as the height of dishonor to mistrust his friends."**

"Oh, I know where this is going." Remarked Sirius. Remus now realized what his other self said and grimaced. James, on the other hand, went stiff at the implication. Lily smiled sadly at this and held her husband's hand comfortingly.

Harry watched the three, wondering.

**Harry knew what Lupin was getting at: that his father had been betrayed by his friend Peter Pettigrew. **

Nearly everyone fell silent right after Charlie read it. "…what happened between us, it was something we didn't expect to happen," said James rigidly. "We all thought we were brothers and despite he left us…I still believe in our friendship, of what is left of us. I do not want Harry to stop trusting his friends just because of that. I don't want him to be alone and I am sure that the rest of us do feel that way."

"I trust in all of you," said Harry suddenly and everyone looked at him. "I don't want to lose any faith in what we have. I agree with Dad, I trust all of you completely and I'm sure you trust me that much. Even if I'm just completely nuts as he is and so is Sirius." He added in the end.

Both Sirius and James cracked a grin. Even Remus couldn't help but smile slightly. No one noticed Dumbledore's expression; he had a forlorn look as he remembered the one he truly believed was his best friend, his confidant, and yet…he inwardly let out a sigh. The past was long gone. He should focus on what was happening.

**He felt irrationally angry. He wanted to argue, but Lupin had turned away from him, set down his glass upon a side table, and addressed Bill, "There's work to do. I can ask Kingsley whether –"**

**"No," said Bill at once, "I'll do it, I'll come."**

"What? Where are they going?" questioned Ginny.

**"Where are you going?" said Tonks and Fleur together.**

**"Mad-Eye's body," said Lupin. "We need to recover it."**

"Don't bother," barked Moody. "It's certain those filthy bastards got the body first."

**"Can't it - ?" began Mrs. Weasley with an appealing look at Bill.**

**"Wait?" said Bill, "Not unless you'd rather the Death Eaters took it?"**

**Nobody spoke. Lupin and Bill said good bye and left.**

**The rest of them now dropped into chairs, all except for Harry, who remained standing. The suddenness and completeness of death was with them like a presence.**

**"I've got to go too," said Harry.**

"Excuse me?" said Lily sharply.

"He can't leave!" cried Molly. "He's much safer there!"

"It's Harry's hero-complex talking," said Ron knowingly. Harry hit him across the head with his hand. "It's true! You can't deny that! Even you have it!"

"Ron's right," nodded Hermione. "You have a undeniable habit of trying to save others while risking yourself without thinking much."

"Hey! Stop ganging up on me!" protested Harry while scowling.

"We won't," his best mates responded simply. Both Ginny and Nathan hid their snickers.

**Ten pairs of startled eyes looked at him.**

**"Don't be silly, Harry," said Mrs. Weasley, "What are you talking about?"**

**"I can't stay here."**

**He rubbed his forehead; it was prickling again, he had not hurt like this for more than a year.**

**"You're all in danger while I'm here. I don't want –"**

"And what? Let my counterpart's death be in vain?" commented Moody with a snort.

"He's not thinking straight, Mad-Eye," said Tonks simply. "He's just worried for them. But yeah, it's rather stupid of him to suggest that."

**"But don't be so silly!" said Mrs. Weasley. "The whole point of tonight was to get you here safely, and thank goodness it worked. And Fleur's agreed to get married here rather than in France, we've arranged everything so that we can all stay together and look after you –"**

**She did not understand; she was making him feel worse, not better.**

Molly shook her head. "The point of the whole plan was to keep you safe," she said firmly. "He can't leave."

**"If Voldemort finds out I'm here –"**

**"But why should he?" asked Mrs****.**** Weasley.**

**"There are a dozen places you might be now, Harry," said Mr. Weasley. "He's got no way of knowing which safe house you're in."**

"Exactly," agreed George.

"Yeah, he's really disregarding everyone's effort of bringing him to the Burrow," noted Bill.

**"It's not me I'm worried for!" said Harry.**

**"We know that," said Mr. Weasley quietly, "but it would make our efforts tonight seem rather pointless if you left."**

**"Yer not goin' anywhere," growled Hagrid. "Blimey, Harry, after all we wen' through ter get you here?"**

**"Yeah, what about my bleeding ear?" said George, hoisting himself up on his cushions.**

**"I know that –"**

**"Mad-Eye wouldn't want –"**

**"I KNOW!" Harry bellowed.**

"And now he's caved in," mused Sirius.

"It's better that way rather than leaving from the safe house," said McGonagall after keeping herself quiet.

**He felt beleaguered and blackmailed:**

"He's a bit dramatic, isn't he?" remarked Harry.

"Not as dramatic as you, Potter." Said Ginny casually. She got herself a glare from him which she just smirked.

**Did they think he did not know what they had done for him, didn't they understand that it was for precisely that reason that he wanted to go now, before they had to suffer any more on his behalf? **

**There was a long and awkward silence in which his scar continued to prickle and throb, and which was broken at last by Mrs. Weasley.**

**"Where's Hedwig, Harry?" she said coaxingly. "We can put her up with Pidwidgeon and give her something to eat."**

"Oh I'm sorry," said Molly in behalf of her other self who didn't know what happened to the snowy while owl.

**His insides clenched like a fist. He could not tell her the truth. He drank the last of his fire whiskey to avoid answering.**

**"Wait till it gets out yeh did it again, Harry," said Hagrid. "Escaped him, fought him off when he was right on top of yeh!"**

**"It wasn't me," said Harry flatly. "It was my wand. My wand acted of its own accord."**

"No one's going to believe that," piped up Nathan.

"Why do you think so, dear?" asked Lily to her younger son.

"Because…well, it sounds weird!" he said as he tried to find the right words. "The wand doesn't have a mind of its own." He explained as if it was that simple.

"I'm sure it'll be explained later in the book," said Dumbledore but he thought what he and the others had read in the previous chapter and began making speculations that would give ample explanation as to what happened.

**After a few moments, Hermione said gently, "But that's impossible, Harry. You mean that you did magic without meaning to; you reacted instinctively."**

**"No," said Harry. "The bike was falling, I couldn't have told you where V****v-****old****-****emo****-****rt was, but my wand spun in my hand and found him and shot a spell at him, and it wasn't even a spell I recognized. I've never made gold flames appear before."**

**"Often," said Mr. Weasley, "when you're in a pressured situation you can produce magic you never dreamed of. Small children often find, before they're trained –"**

"He's going to get irritated when he hears that," commented Harry who knew himself at least that he didn't like being treated, even compared, to a child.

**"It wasn't like that," said Harry through gritted teeth. His scar was burning. He felt angry and frustrated; he hated the idea that they were all imagining him to have power to match Vo****-****l****l-****demo****-****rt's.**

**No one said anything. He knew that they did not believe him. Now that he came to think of it, he had never heard of a wand performing magic on its own before.**

"Yes, but anything can happen." Said Tonks to herself.

"But there are no books that states that wands could act on their own," frowned Hermione. "I don't think it's possible -"

"If Luna were here, she'd say that not everything in books are true," said Ginny as she remembered her blonde quirky Ravenclaw friend. "I think she has a point. There are a lot of things that are yet to be written down in books so it's possible what happened to Harry is one of it."

Hermione wanted to retort but thought that her words hold some truth. "I suppose that is true." She agreed.

**His scar seared with pain, it was all he could do not to moan aloud. Muttering about fresh air, he set down his glass and left the room.**

**As he crossed the yard, the great skeletal Thestral looked up – rustled its enormous batlike wings, then resumed its grazing. Harry stopped at the gate into the garden, staring out at its overgrown plants, rubbing his pounding forehead and thinking of Dumbledore.**

**Dumbledore would have believed him, he knew it. Dumbledore would have known how and why Harry's wand had acted independently, because Dumbledore always had the answers; he had known about wands, had explained to Harry the strange connection that existed between his wand and Vol****-d-****demort's . . . .**

"I am sure that my counterpart is pleased that he has that much trust in him," said Dumbledore serenely. _Something that I feel I do not deserve in all other worlds._

**But Dumbledore, like Mad-Eye, like Sirius, like his parents, like his poor owl, all were gone where Harry could never talk to them again. He felt a burning in his throat that had nothing to do with firewhisky. . . .**

**And then, out of nowhere, the pain in his scar peaked. As he clutched his forehead and closed his eyes, a voice screamed inside his head.**

"What's happening to him?" gasped Nathan.

Harry unconsciously moved his hand to his forehead. "I hate it when that happens to me."

**"You told me the problem would be solved by using another's wand!"**

**And into his mind burst the vision of an emaciated old man lying in rags upon a stone floor, screaming, a horrible drawn-out scream, a scream of unendurable agony. . . .**

Nathan couldn't help but hide his face in fear. James rubbed his son's back to ease his discomfort.

**"No! No! I beg you, I beg you. . . ."**

**"You lied to Lord Voldemort, Ollivander!"**

"Oh dear! Ollivander's captured by Voldemort!" gasped Tonks. Everyone was now feeling sorry for the old wandmaker.

**"You sought to help Potter, to help him escape me!"**

**"I swear I did not. . . . I believed a different wand would work. . . ."**

**"Explain, then, what happened. Lucius's wand is destroyed!"**

**"I cannot understand. . . . The connection . . . exists only . . ****. ****between your two wands. . . ."**

**"Lies!"**

**"Please . . . I beg you. . . ."**

**And Harry saw the white hand raise its wand and felt Voldemort's surge of vicious anger, saw the frail old main on the floor writhe in agony –**

"He's such a right old bastard!" said Ginny angrily, surprising those who were near her. "Ollivander's already old -"

"You know that Voldemort -" everyone except those who were not afraid of the name flinched, "- doesn't care for anyone," said Harry with a hard look on his face. "He's beyond human. He's a monster."

**"Harry?"**

**It was over as quickly as it had come: Harry stood shaking in the darkness, clutching the gate into the garden, his heart racing, his scar still tingling. It was several moments before he realized that Ron and Hermione were at his side.**

**"Harry, come back in the house," Hermione whispered, "You aren't still thinking of leaving?"**

**"Yeah, you've got to stay, mate," said Ron, thumping Harry on the back.**

**"Are you all right?" Hermione asked, close enough now to look into Harry's face. "You look awful!"**

"That's nice of her to say that in front of his face," huffed Harry, trying to lighten the mood inside the room.

"Don't feel offended, I'm sure Hermione doesn't also think you're attractive," laughed Ron.

"Just because you and Hermione are together, you don't have a right to tease me for not having one," whispered Harry in mock anger. "I can tell everyone here about your itty bitty secret -"

"Yeah right you'd do that," smirked Ron in return. "You don't want to mess with Mione."

Harry sighed. "True that. Her birds are ferocious."

"Are you talking about me, you two?" Hermione's voice drifted to their direction.

"No," said Ron and Harry in perfect unison.

**"Well," said Harry shakily, "I probably look better than Ollivander. . . ."**

**When he had finished telling them what he had seen, Ron looked appalled, but Hermione downright terrified.**

**"But it was supposed to have stopped! Your scar – it wasn't supposed to do this anymore! You mustn't let that connection open up again – Dumbledore wanted you to close your mind!"**

**When he did not reply, she gripped his arm.**

**"Harry, he's taking over the Ministry and the newspapers and half the Wizarding world! Don't let him inside your head too!"**

"Like that's easy," snorted Harry.

"That's the end of the chapter everyone," said Charlie loudly. "Seriously, saying the name gives me the creeps."

"But it'll help you say easier any time soon," said Tonks bracingly. "Really Charlie-bear, it's just a name."

As everyone talked amongst themselves, Sirius went over to Remus's side and said in a singsong voice, "I saw you comforting her."

"Don't give any meaning to that," he said tiringly. "Honestly, do you really want the two of us to end up together? Because if you do, then you really need to get yourself checked up with a Healer."

"You're mean," pouted Sirius. "But as for your question, yes, I do want you two to get together. I'd like the idea of the two of us being related. I'm serious, no pun here!"

Remus shook his head. "You're really mental. Hullo James," he greeted as he saw James walking over to them.

"The old mutt bothering you?" asked James lightly. Sirius tried to hit him on the head but failed.

"Yes, he wouldn't let go of the idea about Tonks and I."

James looked at him then at Tonks before saying, "Anything could happen, really. It's up to you and Tonks if you want to do something about it, if you ask me. Before you agrue with me, Mr. Wolf," he added quickly, seeing Remus frowning at him, "All I'm trying to say here is that you give yourself a chance and even if it's not Tonks, just…just make yourself happy. Don't deny yourself of that, alright?"

"You two are completely nuts." Was Remus's only response.

"As if you're not. You were the mastermind of half of the mental pranks we did at Hogwarts, remember? There is a reason why the three of us are best mates." grinned Sirius.

"Yes, I can see why."

* * *

_**I would really like to apologise if I took so long to post this chapter! I would've posted this chapter two weeks ago but the PC broke down and the wiring system in the house went sort of wonky to say the least. However, thanks to my techie little brother, the PC's been revived and a lee-way was made regarding the wiring problem.**_

_**Anyway, I hope this chapter is good enough. It's really hard to write a dialogue to all of the characters reading to be honest so I try my best to give each and everyone have something to say. I'd like to write a bit of brotherly love between Harry and Nathan (I just love this little OC ahahaha) to show another side of AU!Harry as an older brother. I hope you like it too.**_

_**You will notice that the word "Voldemort" is typed down in stutters but only because those who are reading the chapter are afraid of saying the name. Simple as that. Oh, I feel sad that the actor who played as Vernon Dursley passed away due to heart complications. May he rest in peace. *Raises imaginary wand***_

_**Please review! I love them reviews!**_


	7. Ghoul in Pajamas

"So Tonks," began Ginny, plopping herself beside the female Auror.

Tonks raised an eyebrow at her but she knew what she wanted to ask. "I'm not interested in him." She said before she and Hermione could get any assumptions.

"Why not?" inquired Hermione. "Don't you have any inkling of attraction to him?"

"And you have?" questioned the Metamorphagus back to the bushy-haired Gryffindor.

Hermione flushed slightly but nodded slightly. "He's smart and has a light sense of humour, and I know a couple had a crush on him when he was teaching but he's still no Ron." Ginny couldn't help but roll her eyes at the mention of her brother but kept her comment to herself.

"I'm more into the daring, reckless type." said Ginny simply. "So if he was younger, I'd pick Sirius but don't tell him."

Tonks suppressed a chuckle after hearing the youngest Weasley's answer. "All right, I'll tell you." Sighing, she continued, "I did have a crush on him. But that was when I was twelve years old. It's just silly thing, and besides I'm not his type, regardless of what his counterpart sees in my other self. Now this is only between the three of us, so I'll be expecting your word not to say this to anyone else. Deal?"

Both Ginny and Hermione glanced one another before responding, "Deal."

When they returned to their seats, Ron leaned over to Hermione and asked, "You seem jolly. What were you three talking about?"

"Nothing much," shrugged Hermione but she really wanted for both Tonks and Remus to be together, thinking they were meant to be just like their counterparts.

"Right, settle down everyone." said Lily to everyone inside the room. "Who's willing to read the next chapter?"

"I will," volunteered Arthur. As he received the book, he turned to the next page and said out loud, "The next chapter is titled **_The Ghoul in Pajamas_**. That sounds interesting."

**The shock of losing Mad-Eye hung over the house in the days that followed; Harry kept expecting to see him stumping in through the back door like the other Order members, who passed in and out to relay news. Harry felt that nothing but action would assuage his feelings of guilt and grief and that he ought to set out on his mission to find and destroy Horcruxes as soon as possible.**

"Horcruxes?" nearly everyone repeated the particular word, wearing confused expressions. Some such the Aurors, were having speculating looks, trying to remember if they had encountered such term throughout their years. But no one was more struck than Albus Dumbledore who looked as if he had been hit with a thousand curses.

"Do you know what Horcruxes are?" asked Harry to Hermione who shook her head.

"I haven't read anything related to it, to be honest." Was all she said in response.

"Is that the key to defeat Voldemort?" questioned Tonks to Moody and Kingsley. "It seemed too important if the other Harry is searching for them."

"Why don't we ask Albus? He may have the answer to our questions," said the Ex-Auror, his magical eye pointing directly to the headmaster's direction. "Come on Albus, you know this."

Dumbledore pinched his crooked nose. _How did I ever doubt about this?_ "You're terribly correct, Alastor. I do know what they are about and it is a serious matter. The only reason why most of you have not heard of Horcruxes is because I removed the books containing the information from the library when I became Headmaster."

"Why?" said Lily in curiosity. "What is a Hocrux?"

"A Horcrux is a type of dark magic…far much darker than anyone could ever imagine," began Dumbledore. "The first Horcrux ever created was by Herpo the Foul. I'm sure some might have read about him." Hermione, the Aurors, and even Bill and McGonagall nodded.

"Who's he, Mum?" piped up Nathan.

"He's the first wizard to ever hatch a Basilisk," informed Lily to her youngest child.

"He is also known as one of the earliest Parselmouths recorded in history," added McGonagall.

"Creating a Hocrux is considered the darkest of all dark arts as it destroys all the balance in nature and life," continued the headmaster. "I'm sure this will be mentioned soon, but if it isn't, then I will explain it to you all after this chapter."

"I suppose he's right," agreed Arthur. "Let me continue."

"**Well, you can't do anything about the" – Ron mouthed the word Horcruxes – "till you're seventeen. You've still got the Trace on you. And we can plan here as well as anywhere, can't we? Or," he dropped his voice to a whisper, "d'you reckon you already know where the You-Know-Whats are?"**

"**No," Harry admitted.**

"That's going to be darn harder to search for them, then!" groaned Harry, throwing his hands up in exasperation.

"It's going to be fine, I'm sure we'll be able to find it better," said Sirius in a reassured tone. "We're all in this together, pup."

"**I think Hermione's been doing a bit of research," said Ron. "She said she was saving it for when you got here."**

**They were sitting at the breakfast table; Mr. Weasley and Bill had just left for work. Mrs. Weasley had gone upstairs to wake Hermione and Ginny, while Fleur had drifted off to take a bath.**

"**The Trace'll break on the thirty-first," said Harry. "That means I only need to stay here four days. Then I can –"**

"Certainly not," said Molly. "I doubt my other self would allow him to leave the Burrow."

**"Five days," Ron corrected him firmly. "We've got to stay for the wedding. They'll kill us if we miss it."**

"Who's they?" asked Charlie inquisitively.

"I think it's a pretty question to answer, Charlie-bear." Mused Tonks.

**Harry understood "they" to mean Fleur and Mrs. Weasley.**

"**It's one extra day," said Ron, when Harry looked mutinous.**

"**Don't they realize how important –?"**

"'**Course they don't," said Ron. "They haven't got a clue. And now you mention it, I wanted to talk to you about that."**

**Ron glanced toward the door into the hall to check that Mrs. Weasley was not returning yet, then leaned in closer to Harry.**

"**Mum's been trying to get it out of Hermione and me. What we're off to do. She'll try you next, so brace yourself. Dad and Lupin've both asked as well, but when we said Dumbledore told you not to tell anyone except us, they dropped it. Not Mum, though. She's determined."**

"Good luck on that one, Harry." Laughed Ron before noticing Harry looking at him. "What? It's not you I'm talking about. It's your poor other self. He doesn't know what he's facing."

Harry couldn't help but agree. "Ah, so true."

"Boys," reprimanded Hermione but the corners of her lips twitched slightly.

**Ron's prediction came true within hours. **

"Are you a seer?" asked Nathan curiously to Ron.

"Nope, not that I'm aware of." answered Ron easily.

**Shortly before lunch, Mrs. Weasley detached Harry from the others by asking him to help identify a lone man's sock that she thought might have come out of his rucksack. **

"Oh, I know that trick," pointed out Bill.

"That the rest of us know too," chuckled Charlie while the rest of the Weasley children chuckled at the revelation. Molly's ears turned slightly red and she huffed in indignation.

"What trick?" asked Sirius interestedly.

"It's the lone sock trick," explained Bill with a grin. "It's a one-time trick wherein Mum asks you to come over -"

"- to verify whether the sock she's holding is yours," continued Charlie.

"- then suddenly you're being interrogated." finished George.

"I think all of us fell for it once," mused Ron.

Tonks laughed heartily. "I think it's a pretty neat one. I would've loved to try it when I have a kid on my own."

"Lily has her own trick," said James knowingly. "What she does is that -" hearing his wife's cough caused him to stop abruptly and said, "Right. Don't mind me. Keep reading, Arthur."

**Once she had him cornered in the tiny scullery off the kitchen, she started.**

"**Ron and Hermione seem to think that the three of you are dropping out of Hogwarts," she began in a light, casual tone.**

**"Oh," said Harry. "Well, yeah. We are."**

"How bold of him to say just _that_," snorted Fred while George chuckled.

"He's doomed," said George lightly. The rest of the Weasley children, even those who knew Molly Weasley agreed.

**The mangle turned of its own accord in a corner, wringing out what looked like one of Mr. Weasley's vests.**

"**May I ask why you are abandoning your education?" said Mrs. Weasley.**

"**Well, Dumbledore left me . . . stuff to do," mumbled Harry. "Ron and Hermione know about it, and they want to come too."**

"**What sort of 'stuff'?"**

"**I'm sorry, I can't –"**

**"Well, frankly, I think Arthur and I have a right to know, and I'm sure Mr. And Mrs. Granger would agree!" said Mrs. Weasley. Harry had been afraid of the "concerned parent" attack. **

"Why is he afraid – oh," frowned Remus and the other parents who figured out grimaced as well.

**He forced himself to look directly into her eyes, noticing as he did so that they were precisely the same shade of brown as Ginny's. This did not help.**

**Ginny couldn't help but be pleased for her counterpart that someone like the other Harry (not the Harry she knew) was this caring for her. "He must really like her," whispered Hermione to her. The youngest Weasley nodded once.**

"**Dumbledore didn't want anyone else to know, Mrs. Weasley. I'm sorry. Ron and Hermione don't have to come, it's their choice –"**

"**I don't see that you have to go either!" she snapped, dropping all pretense now. "You're barely of age, any of you! It's utter nonsense, if Dumbledore needed work doing, he had the whole Order at his command! Harry, you must have misunderstood him. Probably he was telling you something he wanted done, and you took it to mean that he wanted you–"**

"**I didn't misunderstand," said Harry flatly. "It's got to be me."**

"Why did the other Dumbledore give Harry such mission on his own?" James rounded on Dumbledore, expecting him to answer for his counterpart. "He's barely of age and I don't think he should do all of that alone!"

"I think," growled Moody, his voice directing to Dumbledore. "That it's your trust issues are to blamed."

"Trust issues?" repeated Sirius, turning to look at him.

Dumbledore grimaced. "I may not been…as trusting to others than I may be perceived...few years ago. It took me sometime but yes, I do trust all of you. I am telling you everything you needed to know at the best opportune time as to not give any misinformation…"

"However, it seems that your counterpart is not as open as you." finished Remus.

"Yes, it seems to be the case." He nodded. "The less people who are knowledgeable of this…mission, the better."

"But to entrust this to Harry, are you going to do the same to my son?" demanded Lily.

"…no, I do not believe it is needed," answered Dumbledore. "We've been at this war for three years now. It cannot be delayed any further." With this, everyone agreed.

"So all of us are in this together," said Harry, looking at everyone. "I'm going to need to all the help I can help."

"Sure you will," grinned Tonks. "I can hardly imagine doing nothing for this. Right, King?"

"Of course," nodded Kingsley.

"Hear hear!" chorused the twins.

"All of us," smiled Hermione while Ron thumped him on the back. Harry grinned at everyone.

**He handed her back the single sock he was supposed to be identifying, which was patterned with golden bulrushes.**

"**And that's not mine. I don't support Puddlemere United."**

"Aw, that's a shame," pouted Harry who was a loyal fan of the team.

"**Oh, of course not," said Mrs. Weasley with a sudden and rather unnerving return to her casual tone. "I should have realized. Well, Harry, while we've still got you here, you won't mind helping with the preparations for Bill and Fleur's wedding, will you? There's still so much to do."**

"That's a sudden change of topic," remarked Ginny, knowing fully well what would happen next.

"Lovely, isn't it?" commented Fred.

"**No – I – of course not," said Harry, disconcerted by this sudden change of subject.**

"**Sweet of you," she replied, and she smiled as she left the scullery.**

"This is going to be interesting," said Charlie.

**From that moment on, Mrs. Weasley kept Harry, Ron and Hermione so busy with preparations for the wedding that they hardly had any time to think. **

"So that's the plan, huh?" noted Sirius. "But don't you think it's better that they actually use the time to prepare?"

Moody grunted in approval. "It'll be harder for them to face what's coming at them. _Constant Vigilance!_"

**The kindest explanation of this behavior would have been that Mrs. Weasley wanted to distract them all from thoughts of Mad-Eye and the terrors of their recent journey. After two days of nonstop cutlery cleaning, of color-matching favors, ribbons, and flowers, of de-gnoming the garden and helping Mrs. Weasley cook vast batches of canapés, however, Harry started to suspect her of a different motive. **

"Took you awhile," sighed Bill.

**All the jobs she handed out seemed to keep him, Ron, and Hermione away from one another; he had not had a chance to speak to the two of them alone since the first night, when he had told them about Voldemort torturing Ollivander.**

"**I think Mum thinks that if she can stop the three of you getting together and planning, she'll be able to delay you leaving," Ginny told Harry in an undertone, as they laid the table for dinner on the third night of his stay.**

"Although I understand where she's coming from," said Lily slowly. "I…I want Harry to be prepared."

Harry turned to look at her, hoping that she was coming around. James smiled faintly at this and wrapped his arm around her for comfort.

**"And then what does she think's going to happen?" Harry muttered. "Someone else might kill off Voldemort while she's holding us here making vol-au-vents?"**

"Not a nice way to say it," said Ginny pointedly.

**He had spoken without thinking, and saw Ginny's face whiten.**

"**So it's true?" she said. "That's what you're trying to do?"**

"**I – not – I was joking," said Harry evasively.**

"Too late for that now," Charlie shook his head.

**They stared at each other, and there was something more than shock in Ginny's expression. Suddenly Harry became aware that this was the first time that he had been alone with her since those stolen hours in secluded corners of the Hogwarts grounds. **

All of the Weasley boys groaned. "Please, don't go in detail!" protested Fred.

"We don't need to know their 'stolen hours', thank you!" gagged George. "Spare our innocence!" The other adults found their antics rather amusing, even Harry who was chuckling at them.

"What innocence?" said Ginny while raising an eyebrow. The twins ignored her.

**He was sure she was remembering them too. Both of them jumped as the door opened, and Mr. Weasley, Kingsley, and Bill walked in.**

**They were often joined by other Order members for dinner now, because the Burrow had replaced number twelve, Grimmauld Place as the headquarters. Mr. Weasley had explained that after the death of Dumbledore, their Secret-Keeper, each of the people to whom Dumbledore had confided Grimmauld Place's location had become a Secret-Keeper in turn.**

"**And as there are around twenty of us, that greatly dilutes the power of the Fidelius Charm. Twenty times as many opportunities for the Death Eaters to get the secret out of somebody. We can't expect it to hold much longer."**

"**But surely Snape will have told the Death Eaters the address by now?" asked Harry.**

"I keep forgetting he…was part of the Order," grumbled Sirius, showing his dislike at the Potions Master. "Speaking of which, when will he come back here?"

"Most likely later evening, but he will need to rest," answered Dumbledore, thinking about the punishments his spy would have to endure to still be in the Dark Lord's good graces. "Therefore, he might join us tomorrow around midday."

**"Great," snorted Sirius. Lily shot him a look while James tried to keep his face neutral.**

**"Well, Mad-Eye set up a couple of curses against Snape in case he turns up there again. We hope they'll be strong enough both to keep him out and to bind his tongue if he tries to talk about the place, but we can't be sure. It would have been insane to keep using the place as headquarters now that its protection has become so shaky."**

**The kitchen was so crowded that evening it was difficult to maneuver knives and forks. Harry found himself crammed beside Ginny; the unsaid things that had just passed between them made him wish they had been separated by a few more people. **

**He was trying so hard to avoid brushing her arm he could barely cut his chicken.**

The women, excluding Ginny, cooed at the description. "He's so sweet," said Tonks.

"Shame Potter isn't like him," commented Ginny.

Harry overheard her and protested, "Hey that's uncalled for!"

"**No news about Mad-Eye?" Harry asked Bill.**

"**Nothing," replied Bill.**

**They had not been able to hold a funeral for Moody, because Bill and Lupin had failed to recover his body. It had been difficult to know where he might have fallen, given the darkness and the confusion of the battle.**

"**The Daily Prophet hasn't said a word about him dying or about finding the body," Bill went on. "But that doesn't mean much. It's keeping a lot quiet these days."**

"Useless piece of paper," grumbled James.

"**And they still haven't called a hearing about all the underage magic I used escaping the Death Eaters?" Harry called across the table to Mr. Weasley, who shook his head.** "**Because they know I had no choice or because they don't want me to tell the world Voldemort attacked me?"**

"**The latter, I think. Scrimgeour doesn't want to admit that You-Know-Who is as powerful as he is, nor that Azkaban's seen a mass breakout."**

"That's stupid," said Nathan.

"Nathan!" chastised Lily.

"But Mum! They should be telling the truth!" he exclaimed. Lily couldn't reprimand him for being so honest. "We all know that dear, but it's not nice to say that word."

"Fine, I won't." relented Nathan. "…_yet._" He ended in his mutter that only Charlie and Remus heard who forced themselves not to smile.

"**Yeah, why tell the public the truth?" said Harry, clenching his knife so tightly that the faint scars on the back of his right hand stood out, white against his skin: _I must not tell lies_.**

"And where did he get _that_?" Lily's expression suddenly changed as her eyes narrowed.

"I don't have it," said Harry as he checked his right hand. "I wonder…"

"**Isn't anyone at the Ministry prepared to stand up to him?" asked Ron angrily.**

"**Of course, Ron, but people are terrified," Mr. Weasley replied, "terrified that they will be next to disappear, their children the next to be attacked! There are nasty rumors going around; I for one don't believe the Muggle Studies professor at Hogwarts resigned. She hasn't been seen for weeks now. Meanwhile Scrimgeour remains shut up in his office all day; I just hope he's working on a plan."**

**There was a pause in which Mrs. Weasley magicked the empty plates onto the work surface and served apple tart.**

"**We must decide 'ow you will be disguised, 'Arry," said Fleur, once everyone had pudding. "For ze wedding," she added, when he looked confused.**

"**Of course, none of our guests are Death Eaters, but we cannot guarantee zat zey will not let something slip after zey 'ave 'ad champagne."**

"Fair point," agreed Bill.

"You only agreed because she said so," teased Fred.

"Shut it."

**From this, Harry gathered that she still suspected Hagrid.**

Harry cross his arms. "Hagrid wouldn't tell a soul."

"**Yes, good point," said Mrs. Weasley from the top of the table where she sat, spectacles perched on the end of her nose, scanning an immense list of jobs that she had scribbled on a very long piece of parchment. "Now, Ron, have you cleaned out your room yet?"**

"**Why?" exclaimed Ron, slamming his spoon down and glaring at his mother. "Why does my room have to be cleaned out? Harry and I are fine with it the way it is!"**

"**We are holding your brother's wedding here in a few days' time, young man –"**

**"So they're going to get married in his bedroom, is that it?" snickered Sirius.**

"**And are they getting married in my bedroom?" asked Ron furiously. "No! So why in the name of Merlin's saggy left –"**

Some of the males inside the room chortled and chuckled.

"**Don't talk to your mother like that," said Mr. Weasley firmly. "And do as you're told."**

**Ron scowled at both his parents, then picked up his spoon and attacked the last few mouthfuls of his apple tart.**

"**I can help, some of it's my mess." Harry told Ron, but Mrs. Weasley cut across him.**

"She won't allow it," sighed Hermione.

"**No, Harry, dear, I'd much rather you helped Arthur muck out the chickens, and Hermione, I'd be ever so grateful if you'd change the sheets for Monsieur and Madame Delacour; you know they're arriving at eleven tomorrow morning."**

**But as it turned out, there was very little to do for the chickens. "There's no need to, er, mention it to Molly," Mr. Weasley told Harry, blocking his access to the coop, "but, er, Ted Tonks sent me most of what was left of Sirius's bike and, er, I'm hiding – that's to say, keeping – it in here.**

Molly turned to glower at her husband who smiled weakly. Sirius, on the other hand, guffawed.

**Fantastic stuff: There's an exhaust gaskin, as I believe it's called, the most magnificent battery, and it'll be a great opportunity to find out how brakes work. I'm going to try and put it all back together again when Molly's not – I mean, when I've got time."**

**When they returned to the house, Mrs. Weasley was nowhere to be seen, so Harry slipped upstairs to Ron's attic bedroom.**

"**I'm doing it, I'm doing – ! Oh, it's you," said Ron in relief, as Harry entered the room.**

Tonks let out a sigh. "Thank Merlin, they can talk together now. Sorry Molly." She added, shooting an apologetic look to the Weasley matriarch's direction.

Molly sighed. "It's…fine. I suppose it's better if they do have time to prepare." She relented, even if she didn't wholeheartedly agree.

**Ron lay back down on the bed, which he had evidently just vacated. The room was just as messy as it had been all week; the only chance was that Hermione was now sitting in the far corner, her fluffy ginger cat, Crookshanks, at her feet, sorting books, some of which Harry recognized as his own, into two enormous piles.**

"Oh Hermione's there too," noted Ron.

"Now they can start," said Kingsley.

"Better late than never, right?" agreed Tonks.

"**Hi, Harry," she said, as he sat down on his camp bed.**

"**And how did you manage to get away?"**

"**Oh, Ron's mum forgot that she asked Ginny and me to change the sheets yesterday," said Hermione. She threw Numerology and Grammatica onto one pile and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts onto the other.**

"**We were just talking about Mad-Eye," Ron told Harry. "I reckon he might have survived."**

"Doubtful, sorry kid." Grunted Moody.

"**But Bill saw him hit by the Killing Curse," said Harry.**

"**Yeah, but Bill was under attack too," said Ron. "How can he be sure what he saw?"**

"**Even if the Killing Curse missed, Mad-Eye still fell about a thousand feet," said Hermione, now weight Quidditch Teams of Britain and Ireland in her hand.**

"**He could have used a Shield Charm –"**

"**Fleur said his wand was blasted out of his hand," said Harry.**

**"Fine, if you wanted him dead." grumbled Ron.**

"**Well, all right, if you want him to be dead," said Ron grumpily, punching his pillow into a more comfortable shape.**

The others chortled how similar both Rons were.

"**Of course we don't want him to be dead!" said Hermione, looking shocked. "It's dreadful that he's dead! But we're being realistic!"**

**For the first time, Harry imagined Mad-Eye's body, broken as Dumbledore's had been, yet with that one eye still whizzing in its socket. He felt a stab of revulsion mixed with a bizarre desire to laugh.**

"He really does have a strange sense of humour," mused Harry.

"**The Death Eaters probably tidied up after themselves, that's why no one's found him," said Ron wisely.**

"**Yeah," said Harry. "Like Barty Crouch, turned into a bone and buried in Hagrid's front garden. They probably transfigured Moody and stuffed him –"**

"Where on earth did he get that?" gaped Remus, staring at the book in incredulity.

"I have no idea, and it's not a good sign, really." Frowned James.

**"Don't!" squealed Hermione. Startled, Harry looked over just in time to see her burst into tears over her copy of Spellman's Syllabary.**

"**Oh no," said Harry, struggling to get up from the old camp bed. "Hermione, I wasn't trying to upset –"**

**But with a great creaking of rusty bedsprings, Ron bounded off the bed and got there first. One arm around Hermione, he fished in his jeans pocket and withdrew a revolting-looking handkerchief that he had used to clean out the oven earlier. Hastily pulling out his wand, he pointed it at the rag and said, "Tergeo."**

"That's…nice," Hermione found herself saying. Ron snickered at this.

**The wand siphoned off most of the grease. Looking rather pleased with himself, Ron handed the slightly smoking handkerchief to Hermione.**

"**Oh . . . thanks, Ron. . . . I'm sorry. . . ." She blew her nose and hiccupped. "It's just so awf-ful, isn't it? R-right after Dumbledore . . . I j-just n-never imagined Mad-Eye dying, somehow, he seemed so tough!"**

"**Yeah, I know," said Ron, giving her a squeeze. "But you know what he'd say to us if he was here?"**

"'**C-constant vigilance,'" said Hermione, mopping her eyes. **

"At least they remember that," growled Moody in approval.

"**That's right," said Ron, nodding. "He'd tell us to learn from what happened to him. And what I've learned is not to trust that cowardly little squit, Mundungus."**

Some of the people inside the room chuckled. "Can't say I blame him for that," said Tonks. "If I see that scumbag, I oughta -"

"- do nothing of the sort," said Remus in placating tones. "He's still part of the Order and has good connections on the other side. You can knock him out once everything's over. Of course, that is, if he has ever done something similar to what his counterpart has done."

"You are so…nevermind," she sighed and motioned Arthur to continue reading. She didn't see Sirius raising an eyebrow at the interaction and gave Remus an inquisitive look to which the werewolf ignored.

**Hermione gave a shaky laugh and leaned forward to pick up two more books. A second later, Ron had snatched his arm back from around her shoulders; she had dropped The Monster of Monsters on his foot. The book had broken free from its restraining belt and snapped viciously at Ron's ankle.**

"**I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Hermione cried as Harry wrenched the book from Ron's leg and retied it shut.**

**"What are you doing with all those books anyway?" Ron asked, limping back to his bed.**

"**Just trying to decide which ones to take with us," said Hermione, "When we're looking for the Horcruxes."**

"**Oh, of course," said Ron, clapping a hand to his forehead. "I forgot we'll be hunting down Voldemort in a mobile library."**

The twins laughed. "Nice one, Ron." Said Fred.

"**Ha ha," said Hermione, looking down at Spellman's Syllabary. "I wonder . . . will we need to translate runes? It's possible. . . . I think we'd better take it, to be safe."**

**She dropped the syllabary onto the larger of the two piles and picked up Hogwarts, A History.**

"**Listen," said Harry.**

"It's this one again," said Ron knowingly.

"You really think you know me that well?" said Harry, giving his best mate a look.

"Enough to know what you're thinking is mental enough such as convincing us to ditch you," said the youngest Weasley son simply. "You do know that's not going to happen, right?"

"Of course I do now," snorted Harry. "I can barely count the times you tell me to shove my thoughts about it up in my arse -" Lily shot him a scandalised look and said, "Harry!" "- because you and Hermione aren't going to leave me no matter what."

"It's good that you actually listen to us," said Hermione with a smile.

**He had sat up straight. Ron and Hermione looked at him with similar mixtures of resignation and defiance.**

"**I know you said after Dumbledore's funeral that you wanted to come with me," Harry began.**

"**Here he goes," Ron said to Hermione, rolling his eyes.**

"Your other self's more stubborn and noble than you," noted Ginny.

"He is different from me," shrugged Harry but he knew that it was because of their difference of upbringing that made the other Harry seem more inclined to do things on his own as to not hurt the people he cared.

"**As we knew he would," she sighed, turning back to the books. "You know, I think I will take Hogwarts, A History. Even if we're not going back there, I don't think I'd feel right if I didn't have it with –"**

"**Listen!" said Harry again.**

"**No, Harry, you listen," said Hermione. "We're coming with you. That was decided months ago – years, really."**

"**But –"**

"**Shut up," Ron advised him.**

"Listen to him," said Ron.

"– **are you sure you've thought this through?" Harry persisted.**

**"Let's see," said Hermione, slamming Travels with Trolls onto the discarded pile with a rather fierce look. "I've been packing for days, so we're ready to leave at a moment's notice, which for your information has included doing some pretty difficult magic, not to mention smuggling Mad-Eye's whole stock of Polyjuice Potion right under Ron's mum's nose.**

"Ohh," reacted the Weasley boys, while rest had impressed looks on their faces. Sirius whistled lowly.

Hermione couldn't help but be proud of her counterpart. So did Ron and Harry.

"**I've also modified my parents' memories so that they're convinced they're really called Wendell and Monica Wilkins, and that their life's ambition is to move to Australia, which they have now done. **

"Oh dear," gasped Lily and a thought was forming inside her mind, hoping it wasn't true.

**That's to make it more difficult for Voldemort to track them down and interrogate them about me – or you, because unfortunately, I've told them quite a bit about you.** **Assuming I survive our hunt for the Horcruxes, I'll find Mum and Dad and lift the enchantment. If I don't – well, I think I've cast a good enough charm to keep them safe and happy. Wendell and Monica Wilkins don't know that they've got a daughter, you see."**

Nearly everyone was stunned, except, of course, Moody who was more impressed with what he just heard. All of the females inside the room were now teary, especially Hermione who was shocked of what her other self had done in order to keep her family safe.

Ron and Harry sat closer and put an arm around her, supporting her even if she wasn't exactly the same person mentioned in the book. "It's going to be tough, but everything's going to be fine." Said Harry to ease her.

"We won't let anything bad happen to your parents, we promise you that." Swore Ron.

Hermione didn't say a word but nodded, trying to keep her tears from falling. She felt sad for the other Hermione who had to do all of that for the sake of the Wizarding World and her loved ones.

**Hermione's eyes were swimming with tears again. Ron got back off the bed, put his arm around her once more, and frowned at Harry as though reproaching him for lack of tact. Harry could not think of anything to say, not least because it was highly unusual for Ron to be teaching anyone else tact.**

**George wanted to say something to lighten the mood but he knew it wasn't the right time yet.**

"**I – Hermione, I'm sorry – I didn't –"**

"**Didn't realize that Ron and I know perfectly well what might happen if we come with you? Well, we do. Ron, show Harry what you've done."**

"**Nah, he's just eaten," said Ron.**

"**Go on, he needs to know!"**

"**Oh, all right. Harry, come here."**

**For the second time Ron withdrew his arm from around Hermione and stumped over to the door.**

"**C'mon."**

"**Why?" Harry asked, following Ron out of the room onto the tiny landing.**

"I think I know why the chapter's called Ghoul in Pajamas." Said Charlie but he was slowly grinning and so did the others who were slowly figuring it out.

"**Descendo," muttered Ron, pointing his wand at the low ceiling. A hatch opened right over their heads and a ladder slid down to their feet. A horrible, half-sucking, half-moaning sound came out of the square hole, along with an unpleasant smell like open drains.**

"**That's your ghoul, isn't it?" asked Harry, who had never actually met the creature that sometimes disrupted the nightly silence.**

"He's not exactly a good company for sleeping but he's fine when you get used to it," said Ron grandly.

"**Yeah, it is," said Ron, climbing the ladder. "Come and have a look at him."**

**Harry followed Ron up the few short steps into the tiny attic space. His head and shoulders were in the room before he caught sight of the creature curled up a few feet from him, fast asleep in the gloom with its large mouth wide open.**

"**But it . . . it looks . . . do ghouls normally wear pajamas?"**

"No, they're usually in starker's," said Bill.

"**No," said Ron. "Nor have they usually got red hair or that number of pustules."**

Tonks's face was alight, her eyes gleaming in mischief. "That's a really splendid idea! I like it!" she said heartily.

"It makes sense if he wants to go with them," said Kingsley. "And it's a great alibi to avoid getting in trouble for the whole family." Even the Weasleys found the plan excellent.

**Harry contemplated the thing, slightly revolted. It was human in shape and size, and was wearing what, now that Harry's eyes became used to the darkness, was clearly an old pair of Ron's pajamas. He was also sure that ghouls were generally rather slimy and bald, rather than distinctly hairy and covered in angry purple blisters.**

"**He's me, see?" said Ron.**

"**No," said Harry. "I don't."**

"Rather slow on the uptake, huh?" mused Fred. Harry threw a pillow but Fred swatted it away, using his arm like a bat as if he was in a Quidditch game.

"**I'll explain it back in my room, the smell's getting to me," said Ron. They climbed back down the ladder, which Ron returned to the ceiling, and rejoined Hermione, who was still sorting books.**

"**Once we've left, the ghoul's going to come and live down here in my room," said Ron. "I think he's really looking forward to it – well, it's hard to tell, because all he can do is moan and drool – but he nods a lot when you mention it. Anyway, he's going to be me with spattergroit. Good, eh?"**

**Harry merely looked his confusion.**

"**It is!" said Ron, clearly frustrated that Harry had not grasped the brilliance of the plan. "Look, when we three don't turn up at Hogwarts again, everyone's going to think Hermione and I must be with you, right? ** **Which means the Death Eaters will go straight for our families to see if they've got information on where you are."**

"And I doubt they're willing to go inside a room with someone with spattergroit." Said James. "It's genius."

"**But hopefully it'll look like I've gone away with Mum and Dad; a lot of Muggle-borns are talking about going into hiding at the moment," said Hermione.**

**"We can't hide my whole family, it'll look too fishy and they can't all leave their jobs," said Ron. "So we're going to put out the story that I'm seriously ill with spattergroit, which is why I can't go back to school. If anyone comes calling to investigate, Mum or Dad can show them the ghoul in my bed, covered in pustules. Spattergroit's really contagious, so they're not going to want to go near him. It won't matter that he can't say anything, either, because apparently you can't once the fungus has spread to your uvula."**

"**And your mum and dad are in on this plan?" asked Harry.**

"I'm sure his Dad is," nodded Charlie. "As for Mum…"

"She'll agree once they leave," finished Ginny.

"**Dad is. He helped Fred and George transform the ghoul. Mum . . . well, you've seen what she's like. She won't accept we're going till we're gone."**

**There was silence in the room, broken only by gentle thuds as Hermione continued to throw books onto one pile or the other. Ron sat watching her, and Harry looked from one to the other, unable to say anything. The measure they had taken to protect their families made him realize, more than anything else could have done, that they really were going to come with him and that they knew exactly how dangerous that would be. He wanted to tell them what that meant to him, but he simply could not find words important enough.**

"Even if he did find the right words, that's not going to stop them from coming with him," smiled Harry, thankful to have loyal friends such as his counterpart had.

**Through the silence came the muffled sounds of Mrs. Weasley shouting from four floors below.**

"**Ginny's probably left a speck of dust on a poxy napkin ring," said Ron. "I dunno why the Delacours have got to come two days before the wedding."**

"**Fleur's sister's a bridesmaid, she needs to be here for the rehearsal, and she's too young to come on her own," said Hermione, as she pored indecisively over Break with a Banshee.**

"**Well, guests aren't going to help Mum's stress levels," said Ron.**

"**What we really need to decide," said Hermione, tossing Defensive Magical Theory into the bin without a second glance **

"Why does she have that?" frowned Hermione, wondering what made her other self buy that worthless book.

**and picking up An Appraisal of Magical Education in Europe, "is where we're going after we leave here. I know you said you wanted to go to Godric's Hollow first, Harry, and I understand why, but . . . well . . . shouldn't we make the Horcruxes our priority?"**

"**If we knew where any of the Horcruxes were, I'd agree with you," said Harry, who did not believe that Hermione really understood his desire to return to Godric's Hollow. His parents' graves were only part of the attraction: He had a strong, though inexplicable, feeling that the place held answers for him. **

"What answers?" asked Nathan in wonder.

**Perhaps it was simply because it was there that he had survived Voldemort's Killing Curse; now that he was facing the challenge of repeating the feat, Harry was drawn to the place where it had happened, wanting to understand.**

"**Don't you think there's a possibility that Voldemort's keeping a watch on Godric's Hollow?" Hermione asked. "He might expect you to go back and visit your parents' graves once you're free to go wherever you like?"**

"She has a point," said Moody gruffly. "Better to disguise yourself if they're really planning on going there."

**This had not occurred to Harry. While he struggled to find a counterargument, Ron spoke up, evidently following his own train of thought.**

"**This R.A.B. person," he said. "You know, the one who stole the real locket?"**

"What locket?" questioned Harry until he remembered what was mentioned in the earlier chapters. "Isn't that the one that was -"

"Yes, it seems to be it," nodded Remus. "It sounded really important."

**Hermione nodded.**

"**He said in his note he was going to destroy it, didn't he?"**

"But did the R.A.B person succeed in destroying the locket?" said Lily. "Also, why would they need to destroy the locket?"

"So many questions, so little answers," sighed Sirius. "Why can't we get all of our answers now?" For some reason, the initials R.A.B. bothered him but he didn't know why.

"Because being impatient won't help matters," said Tonks. "We all know we're going to get all of our answers soon. Just wait for it."

**Harry dragged his rucksack toward him and pulled out the fake Horcrux in which R.A.B.'s note was still folded.**

"'**I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can.'" Harry read out.**

"Oh I see, it's a Horcrux," realised Lily and the others.

"**Well, what if he did finish it off?" said Ron.**

"**Or she." Interposed Hermione.**

"**Whichever," said Ron. "it'd be one less for us to do!"**

"**Yes, but we're still going to have to try and trace the real locket, aren't we?" said Hermione, "to find out whether or not it's destroyed."**

"**And once we get hold of it, how do you destroy a Horcrux?" asked Ron.**

"And that's what we really need to know," said James, leaning closer to hear better.

Dumbledore sighed. He was sure all of them would be horrified of what they would learn of regarding that particular Dark Magic.

"**Well," said Hermione, "I've been researching that."**

"**How?" asked Harry. "I didn't think there were any books on Horcruxes in the library?"**

"**There weren't," said Hermione, who had turned pink. "Dumbledore removed them all, but he – he didn't destroy them." Ron sat up straight, wide-eyed.**

"Oh I know where this is going," grinned Fred.

"This is simply too good to hear," laughed George.

McGonagall was stunned what she heard and glanced at Hermione who was flushing deeply. "I do hope you're not planning on that here, Ms. Granger."

"Of-of course I won't!" squeaked out Hermione.

"**How in the name of Merlin's pants have you managed to get your hands on those Horcrux books?"**

"**It – it wasn't stealing!" said Hermione, **

"It definitely is!" said the twins in unison.

"But for a good reason," added Ron quickly. "I'm sure Dumbledore would've understand. Right, sir?"

Dumbledore smiled genially. "I'm certain that's what my counterpart expected Ms. Granger to do right after his death."

**looking from Harry to Ron with a kind of desperation. "They were still library books, even if Dumbledore had taken them off the shelves. Anyway, if he really didn't want anyone to get at them, I'm sure he would have made it much harder to –"**

"**Get to the point!" said Ron.**

"**Well . . . it was easy," said Hermione in a small voice. "I just did a Summoning Charm. You know – Accio. And – they zoomed out of Dumbledore's study window right into the girls' dormitory."**

"That…was too easy," said James slowly.

"I bet he removed all sorts of spells and enchantments before he – you know, died." said Sirius, thinking deeply.

Dumbledore inclined a nod. He was sure his other self thought of that earlier.

"**But when did you do this?" Harry asked, regarding Hermione with a mixture of admiration and incredulity.**

"**Just after his – Dumbledore's – funeral," said Hermione in an even smaller voice. "Right after we agreed we'd leave school and go and look for the Horcruxes. When I went back upstairs to get my things it – it just occurred to me that the more we knew about them, the better it would be . . . and I was alone in there . . . so I tried . . . and it worked. They flew straight in through the open window and I – I packed them."**

**She swallowed and then said imploringly, "I can't believe Dumbledore would have been angry, it's not as though we're going to use the information to make a Horcrux, is it?"**

"That is true," agreed Harry. "Whatever those Horcruxes are, I don't think I'll be making one myself considering Voldemort used it for his own gain."

"**Can you hear us complaining?" said Ron. "Where are these books anyway?"**

**Hermione rummaged for a moment and then extracted from the pile a large volume, bound in faded black leather. She looked a little nauseated and held it as gingerly as if it were something recently dead.**

"I don't think it'll be one of my favourite reads," grimaced Hermione, feeling sorry for her counterpart.

"**This is the one that gives explicit instructions on how to make a Horcrux. _Secrets of the Darkest Art_ – it's a horrible book, really awful, full of evil magic. I wonder when Dumbledore removed it from the library. . . . if he didn't do it until he was headmaster, I bet Voldemort got all the instruction he needed from here."**

"**Why did he have to ask Slughorn how to make a Horcrux, then, if he'd already read that?" asked Ron.**

"Slughorn? Horace Slughorn?" repeated Lily in surprise. "He knows what a Horcrux is?"

"That seems to be case," rumbled Moody.

"**He only approached Slughorn to find out what would happen if you split your soul into seven," said Harry.**

"What?!" yelped Remus as he stood up. "Are you sure that's what's written?"

Arthur scanned through the same sentence and nodded gravely. "Yes…it says split your soul into seven -" The others were wide-eyed at this and some were beginning to talk urgently.

"But that's wrong! Terribly wrong!" the werewolf shook his head. "It's breaking all of the laws of nature – it's -"

"It is what Voldemort would've done in order to achieve what he wanted," interrupted Dumbledore grimly. "That is what a Horcrux is."

"But – but what he could gain from creating one?" said Tonks who couldn't wrap up why would someone wanted to destroy themselves that much.

"By gaining immortality," answered the headmaster simply.

"You knew about this, sir." said Harry, staring at him.

Dumbledore pinched his nose. "…I had my suspicions but there was no evidence that he did create Horcruxes."

"But now, do you think there's a huge possibility that Voldemort here made them the same way as his other self did in the other dimension?" questioned James.

"Yes, I believe so." He responded.

"At least we now know his secret." Said Sirius determinedly. "We already have the upper hand here." His words were agreed by the others and they all felt that there was a glimmer of hope for this war to end.

"I'd say I ought to finish reading this chapter so that all of us can discuss the next step," said Arthur to everyone.

**"Dumbledore was sure Riddle already knew how to make a Horcrux by the time he asked Slughorn about them. I think you're right, Hermione, that could easily have been where he got the information."**

"**And the more I've read about them," said Hermione, "the more horrible they seem, and the less I can believe that he actually made six. It warns in this book how unstable you make the rest of your soul by ripping it, and that's just by making one Horcrux!"**

**Harry remembered what Dumbledore had said about Voldemort moving beyond "usual evil."**

"**Isn't there any way of putting yourself back together?" Ron asked.**

"Another good question," nodded Moody.

"**Yes," said Hermione with a hollow smile, "but it would be excruciatingly painful."**

"If it gives Moldywarts pain, why not?" said George.

"**Why? How do you do it?" asked Harry.**

"**Remorse," said Hermione. **

Everyone fell silent and Harry broke the silence when he snorted. "Right, I can really see him like that." With that, the rest chuckled and snickered.

"No, it's definitely not possible," said James. "He's already passed the usual evil."

"**You've got to really feel what you've done. There's a footnote. Apparently the pain of it can destroy you. I can't see Voldemort attempting it somehow, can you?"**

"**No," said Ron, before Harry could answer. "So does it say how to destroy Horcruxes in that book?"**

"Now no interruptions," barked Moody at everyone. "This is definitely the most important part of this chapter if we are going to defeat Voldemort and his lackeys."

**"Yes," said Hermione, now turning the fragile pages as if examining rotting entrails, "because it warns Dark wizards how strong they have to make the enchantments on them. From all that I've read, what Harry did to Riddle's diary was one of the few really foolproof ways of destroying a Horcrux."**

"**What, stabbing it with a basilisk fang?" asked Harry.**

Lily and James shared a look: _Where did the other Harry get Basilisk fangs?_

"**Oh well, lucky we've got such a large supply of basilisk fangs, then," said Ron. "I was wondering what we were going to do with them."**

"**It doesn't have to be a basilisk fang," said Hermione patiently. "It has to be something so destructive that the Horcrux can't repair itself. Basilisk venom only has one antidote, and it's incredibly rare –"**

"– **phoenix tears," said Harry, nodding.**

"**Exactly," said Hermione. "Our problem is that there are very few substances as destructive as basilisk venom, and they're all dangerous to carry around with you. That's a problem we're going to have to solve, though, because ripping, smashing, or crushing a Horcrux won't do the trick. You've got to put it beyond magical repair."**

"I'm sure we can find some ways to do that," murmured Tonks to herself.

"**But even if we wreck the thing it lives in," said Ron, "why can't the bit of soul in it just go and live in something else?"**

"**Because a Horcrux is the complete opposite of a human being."** **Seeing that Harry and Ron looked thoroughly confused, Hermione hurried on. "Look, if I picked up a sword right now, Ron, and ran you through with it, I wouldn't damage your soul at all."**

Ron snorted at this. "That's a nice thought."

Hermioned smacked him on the arm. Harry stifled a laugh.

"**Which would be a real comfort to me, I'm sure," said Ron. Harry laughed.**

"**It should be, actually! But my point is that whatever happens to your body, your soul will survive, untouched," said Hermione. "But it's the other way round with a Horcrux. The fragment of soul inside it depends on its container, its enchanted body, for survival. It can't exist without it."**

"**That diary sort of died when I stabbed it," said Harry, remembering ink pouring like blood from the punctured pages, and the screams of the piece of Voldemort's soul as it vanished.**

Harry tried to remember if he had encountered a diary like his other self but he knew there wasn't.

"**And once the diary was properly destroyed, the bit of soul trapped in it could no longer exist. Ginny tried to get rid of the diary before you did, flushing it away, but obviously it came back good as new.**

Ginny sat up and stared at the book. "What does my other self had to do with a – a Horcrux?"

**While the magical container is still intact, the bit of soul inside it can flit in and out of someone if they get too close to the object. I don't mean holding it for too long, it's nothing to do with touching it," she added before Ron could speak. **

"**I mean close emotionally. Ginny poured her heart out into that diary, she made herself incredibly vulnerable. You're in trouble if you get too fond of or dependent on the Horcrux."**

"Ginny dear -" began Molly but Ginny interrupted her.

"No, I don't own a diary. I never did." She insisted. She gave her a meaningful look, showing her truthfulness and her mother nodded slowly, believing her.

**"I wonder how Dumbledore destroyed the ring?" said Harry. "Why didn't I ask him? I never really . . ."**

"What ring?" said Remus sharply.

"It's barely specific," frowned Sirius. "Even the bleeding locket and diary." He glanced at the headmaster and asked, "Do you any idea what they're talking about?"

Dumbledore had a thoughtful expression and his mind began to form numerous theories and speculations. "I may have an idea, however I will further make more research and findings. I'm sure once we're done reading this book, we can finally start the search of these objects."

"Therefore we have to keep on reading this until we're finished," barked Moody. "We can't waste any more time."

**His voice trailed away: He was thinking of all the things he should have asked Dumbledore, and of how, since the headmaster had died, it seemed to Harry that he had wasted so many opportunities when Dumbledore had been alive, to find out more . . . to find out everything. . . .**

**The silence was shattered as the bedroom door flew open with a wall-shaking crash. Hermione shrieked and dropped Secrets of the Darkest Art; Crookshanks streaked under the bed, hissing indignantly; Ron jumped off the bed, skidded on a discarded Chocolate Frog wrapper, and smacked his head on the opposite wall;****and Harry instinctively dived for his wand before realizing that he was looking up at Mrs. Weasley, whose hair was disheveled and whose face was contorted with rage.**

"Busted," said Charlie while shaking his head.

"**I'm so sorry to break up this cozy little gathering," she said, her voice trembling. "I'm sure you all need your rest . . . but there are wedding presents stacked in my room that need sorting out and I was under the impression that you had agreed to help."**

"**Oh yes," said Hermione, looking terrified as she leapt to her feet, sending books flying in every direction. "we will . . . we're sorry . . ."**

**With an anguished look at Harry and Ron, Hermione hurried out of the room after Mrs. Weasley.**

"**It's like being a house-elf," complained Ron in an undertone, still massaging his head as he and Harry followed. "Except without the job satisfaction. The sooner this wedding's over, the happier, I'll be."**

"Hear, hear," said the Weasley boys including Ginny.

"**Yeah," said Harry, "then we'll have nothing to do except find Horcruxes. . . . It'll be like a holiday, won't it?"**

**Ron started to laugh, but at the sight of the enormous pile of wedding presents waiting for them in Mrs. Weasley's room, stopped quite abruptly.**

**The Delacours arrived the following morning at eleven o' clock. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny were feeling quite resentful toward Fleur's family by this time; and it was with ill grace that Ron stumped back upstairs to put on matching socks, and Harry attempted to flatten his hair. **

"Stop it, it's not going to happen anytime soon," said James.

"We can always shave it," suggested Lily and seeing her husband's horrified look, she laughed softly.

**Once they had all been deemed smart enough, they trooped out into the sunny backyard to await the visitors.**

**Harry had never seen the place looking so tidy. The rusty cauldrons and old Wellington boots that usually littered the steps by the back door were gone, replaced by two new Flutterby bushes standing either side of the door in large pots; though there was no breeze, the leaves waved lazily, giving an attractive rippling effect. The chickens had been shut away, the yard had been swept, and the nearby garden had been pruned, plucked, and generally spruced up, although Harry, who liked it in its overgrown state, thought that it looked rather forlorn without its usual contingent of capering gnomes.**

**He had lost track of how many security enchantments had been placed upon the Burrow by both the Order and the Ministry; all he knew was that it was no longer possible for anybody to travel by magic directly into the place. **

**Mr. Weasley had therefore gone to meet the Delacours on top of a nearby hill, where they were to arrive by Portkey. The first sound of their approach was an unusually high-pitched laugh, which turned out to be coming from Mr. Weasley, who appeared at the gate moments later, laden with luggage and leading a beautiful blonde woman in long, leaf green robes, who could be Fleur's mother.**

"**Maman!" cried Fleur, rushing forward to embrace her. "Papa!"**

**Monsieur Delacour was nowhere near as attractive as his wife; **

"Oh?" said Charlie, wondering how Fleur's father looked like.

**he was a head shorter and extremely plumb, with a little, pointed black beard. However, he looked good-natured.**

"That's Fleur's dad?" exclaimed Sirius who was obviously more than surprised to hear his description.

"I think it just goes to show that appearances don't matter when it comes to love," sniffed Tonks before taking an unconscious glance toward Remus who, fortunately enough, turned his attention to her. Their gazes met and both of their faces flushed before looking away.

This time, James saw the chemistry between the two. He just hoped that Remus, and also Moony, would stop closing their heart to let someone in.

**Bouncing towards Mrs. Weasley on high-heeled boots, he kissed her twice on each cheek, leaving her flustered.**

"**You 'ave been to so much trouble," he said in a deep voice. "Fleur tells us you 'ave been working very 'ard."**

"**Oh, it's been nothing, nothing!" trilled Mrs. Weasley. "No trouble at all!"**

**Ron relieved his feelings by aiming a kick at a gnome who was peering out from behind one of the new Flutterby bushes.**

"**Dear lady!" said Monsieur Delacour, still holding Mrs. Weasley's hand between his own two plump ones and beaming. "We are most honored at the approaching union of our two families! Let me present my wife, Apolline."**

**Madame Delacour glided forward and stooped to kiss Mrs. Weasley too.**

"**Enchantée," she said. "Your 'usband 'as been telling us such amusing stories!"**

**Mr. Weasley gave a maniacal laugh; Mrs. Weasley threw him a look, upon which he became immediately silent and assumed an expression appropriate to the sickbed of a close friend.**

**"And, of course, you 'ave met my leetle daughter, Gabrielle!" said Monsieur Delacour. Gabrielle was Fleur in miniature; eleven years old, with waist-length hair of pure, silvery blonde, she gave Mrs. Weasley a dazzling smile and hugged her, then threw Harry a glowing look, batting her eyelashes. Ginny cleared her throat loudly.**

The twins snickered at this while Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Interested in Veelas, mate?" asked Ron to Harry.

"Might be, but she's a bit too young for me," said Harry in amusement.

"**Well, come in, do!" said Mrs. Weasley brightly, and she ushered the Delacours into the house, with many "No, please!"s and "After you!"s and "Not at all!"s.**

**The Delacours, it soon transpired, were helpful, pleasant guests. They were pleased with everything and keen to assist with the preparations for the wedding. Monsieur Delacour pronounced everything from the seating plan to the bridesmaids' shoes "Charmant!" Madame Delacour was most accomplished at household spells and had the oven properly cleaned in a trice; Gabrielle followed her elder sister around, trying to assist in any way she could and jabbering away in rapid French.**

**On the downside, the Burrow was not built to accommodate so many people. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were now sleeping in the sitting room, having shouted down Monsieur and Madame Delacour's protests and insisted they take their bedroom. Gabrielle was sleeping with Fleur in Percy's old room, and Bill would be sharing with Charlie, his best man, once Charlie arrived from Romania.**

"I hope I'm still best man in your wedding, Bill," grinned Charlie at his older brother.

Bill responded, "Might be. I'll think about it when I am about to get married."

**Opportunities to make plans together became virtually nonexistent,** **and it was in desperation that Harry, Ron and Hermione took to volunteering to feed the chickens just to escape the overcrowded house.**

**"But she still won't leave us alone!" snarled Ron, and their second attempt at a meeting in the yard was foiled by the appearance of Mrs. Weasley carrying a large basket of laundry in her arms.**

"**Oh, good, you've fed the chickens," she called as she approached them. "We'd better shut them away again before the men arrive tomorrow . . . to put up the tent for the wedding," she explained, pausing to lean against the henhouse. She looked exhausted. "Millamant's Magic Marquees . . . they're very good. Bill's escorting them. . . . You'd better stay inside while they're here, Harry. I must say it does complicate organizing a wedding, having all these security spells around the place."**

"**I'm sorry," said Harry humbly.**

"**Oh, don't be silly, dear!" said Mrs. Weasley at once. "I didn't mean – well, your safety's much more important! Actually, I've been wanting to ask you how you want to celebrate your birthday, Harry. Seventeen, after all, it's an important day. . . ."**

"It is," chorused all of the young witches and wizards and even those who were already past that age. "It's the most awaited birthday, other than being eleven," said Tonks, remembering her time when she became seventeen.

"**I don't want a fuss," said Harry quickly, envisaging the additional strain this would put on them all. **"**Really, Mrs. Weasley, just a normal dinner would be fine. . . . It's the day before the wedding. . . ."**

"**Oh, well, if you're sure, dear. I'll invite Remus and Tonks, shall I? And how about Hagrid?"**

"**That'd be great," said Harry. "But please, don't go to loads of trouble."**

"**Not at all, not at all . . . It's no trouble. . . ."**

**She looked at him, a long, searching look, then smiled a little sadly, straightened up, and walked away. Harry watched as she waved her wand near the washing line, and the damp clothes rose into the air to hang themselves up, and suddenly he felt a great wave of remorse for the inconvenience and the pain he was giving her.**

"It's definitely no trouble," said Molly indignantly and she felt truly sad how the other Harry didn't understand the importance of that particular day and it was all because of the upbringing he had to endure with those dreaded Muggles, the Dursleys.

"And that's the end of the chapter." announced Arthur, closing the book. "I'm assuming we're now going to talk about what we've learned just now."

"We definitely are," nodded James. "So Horcruxes. I'm sure he also made seven of them here. We all know that seven is the most powerful magical number and he's egoistic enough to use that number."

Dumbledore agreed. "Yes, that is true. Voldemort believes in that essence. Does anyone have any concerns?"

Lily slowly raised her hand and said, "If you don't mind, I'd like to take Nathan out -"

"What? Why?" cried Nathan.

"I'm sorry dear but this is Order business," said her mother softly. "Please do understand, dear."

"Then Harry, Ron and Ginny should also come with me!" he protested. "They're not yet seventeen!"

"I'll come with you, Nathan," said Ginny suddenly as she stood up. "I'm sure we can play lots of games together -"

"No! I want to stay here!"

"Nathan!" chastised Lily. "Please understand that this is serious business -"

"Let me try," said Ginny. "Come on Nathan, please do try to understand – I also wanted to but I can't. This is for the best. Your brother and Ron are needed to talk about this -" in an undertone, she whispered, "I'm sure they will tell you all you wanted to know. What do you say?"

Nathan considered her for a moment and nodded. "All right. I'll leave. Let's go Ginny."

"Thank you," said Lily softly to her as she watched the two leave the room. Ginny glanced over her shoulder and smile slightly.

"She's good," noted Harry, impressed. "Usually Nathan's more stubborn than that."

"Gin's great with kids," said Bill. "So, going back to the matter at hand?"

"Yes," nodded Dumbledore. "Any questions or concerns?" Seeing Tonks raised her hand, he said, "Yes, Nymphadora?"

"Please don't call me that," scowled Tonks. "For my question, how does one create a Horcux?"

Everyone stopped talking and glanced at Dumbledore, waiting for him to answer. "To create a Horcrux, one must commit the most supreme act of evil which is murder. Alongside of it is a spell to be used right after the act; this spell is used to encase the fragment of the soul into an object." After hearing this, some were wearing grave expressions while others looked horrified.

"So you have to take someone's life out of cold blood just to create one for immortality's sake?" said James in disgust.

"But how about those have no choice but to kill like the Aurors, would their souls be split just by doing that?" questioned Hermione.

Dumbledore looked thoughtful and responded, "It may depend. The purpose of creating a Horcrux is to murder for selfish or meaningless gain, and only for that reason. If someone has to take someone's life to protect the others, then I do not think their souls will be split."

Tonks let out a relived sigh. She couldn't possibly imagine what would happen if her own soul was ripped apart.

"And creating just one can be almost kill the person?" confirmed Remus.

"Yes, the process of creating is excruciatingly painful, it would seem impossible to create more than one." Said Dumbledore. "But knowing how attached Voldemort is to the number seven, it is most likely that he created seven to strengthen his chances of living."

"So there's three objects mentioned as Voldemort's Horcruxes," said Harry. "A locket, diary and a ring. How can we find them? There must be tons of that in the Wizarding World! And how about the others?"

"That is also what we needed to know right now." said Kingsley deeply.

"And the R.A.B person, does anyone know who that person might be?" added James.

"He could be anyone," grunted Moody. "Most probably those initials were his full name. We can search through the records of all wizards and witches born with the same initials. That's a start we can take." The others murmured in agreement.

"I can check that in the Ministry tomorrow if you want," offered Tonks. "I know someone from the Wizarding Profile and Information Office who can give me this kind of information. Good thing it's part of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

"How long will you be able to get the list?" questioned Dumbledore.

"Depends, but hopefully in a week or two if I go tomorrow morning." She replied.

"At least we're going somewhere," said Hermione to Harry and Ron. "I think we actually have a chance to defeat him."

"We can only hope so," sighed Harry. "The worst thing is that Voldemort knows what we're planning against him and that's what we don't want to happen. We have to have the element of surprise."

* * *

**_And that's the end of the chapter. _**

**_I do apologise for not posting this earlier. I just created this…well, today, in one day and I just got back from vacation (beach and all - I even got a tan but it doesn't suit me, apparently) so I'm fully relaxed. _**

**_It's rather nice that they started making plans now, although they still haven't got much information. Sirius wasn't sure about the R.A.B person but it would be a shocker for him in the tenth chapter, right? I do plan on including Snape in the reading but after two or three chapters…so probably also in Kreacher's Tale, he'll join us. There will be more fun when they arrived in that chapter and there'll be plenty of movement to search for that little locket._**

**_Oh yes, has anyone of you wondered what happened to Kreacher? No? Well, that'll be revealed too in the tenth chapter. Aww._**

**_As for the pairings, there's probably three significant canon pairings I'll be sticking with and it's rather obvious. Harry is still available for keeps, though. Ginny has yet to reveal who she's seeing with but who knows? Charlie may or may end up with someone in this story. The twins are still undecided (with Angelina and all), and Sirius could stay as a bachelor for the rest of his life ahahaha._**

**_Reviews please? They make me happy, really!_**


	8. The Will of Albus Dumbledore

"So who's going to read the next chapter?" asked Arthur to everyone as they were done with the Order meeting. Both Nathan and Ginny got back (the younger Potter son was still a bit upset that he couldn't join the meeting) and everyone settled down in their respective seats.

"I will!" chirped Tonks as she raised her hand but accidentally hit Remus's head. "Oh I'm sorry!"

"It's – it's fine," said Remus in response but winced slightly.

Tonks saw his reaction and leaned forward, moving her hand to reach his face. "Let me check – where does it hurt?" Remus tried to stop her but looking into her gaze, he couldn't help but notice how rich and deep the colour of her eyes was. He was about to open his mouth to say something but she spoke first. "There! All fixed up!"

"Thanks," was all he could manage to say. He didn't see James and Sirius sharing a look.

"It's my fault, sorry about that." She said offhandedly, accepting the book from Arthur. Opening the book once again, she found the chapter they should now be. "The next chapter is **_the Will of Albus Dumbledore._**"

"They'll get to hear it?" said Bill, raising an eyebrow.

"Do you think the other Dumbledore mentioned Harry in his will? I think it makes sense if the other Harry gets to hear it," said Hermione thoughtfully while Ron and Harry nodded in assent.

"It might help them with their hunt with the Horcrux," said Kingsley deeply.

"Right, I'll start reading." Announced Tonks.

**He was walking along a mountain road in the cool blue light of dawn. Far below, swathed in mist, was the shadow of a small town. Was the man he sought down there, the man he needed so badly he could think of little else, the man who held the answer, the answer to his problem...?**

"Where is he going?" said Lily almost immediately. "He's not supposed to leave the Burrow!"

"It's all right," said Tonks, her eyes looking at the next few words. "He was sleeping."

**"Oi, wake up."**

**Harry opened his eyes. He was lying again on the camp bed in Ron's dingy****attic room.**

"Hey!" Ron smacked Harry at the back of his head.

**The sun had not yet risen and the room was still shadowy. Pigwidgeon was asleep with his head under his tiny wing. The scar on Harry's forehead was prickling.**

**"You were muttering in your sleep."**

**"Was I?"**

**"Yeah. 'Gregorovitch.' You kept saying 'Gregorovitch.'"**

"Who's Gregorovitch?" asked Ginny curiously.

"His name sounds familiar, but I'm not sure." said McGongall. "Albus?"

Dumbledore smiled slightly. "He's one of the few wandmakers in Europe. He's as well-known as Ollivander, if I say so myself." _And he was the one who used to own the Elder wand before Gellert stole it from him._

"Why is Voldemort looking for him? He already has Ollivander!" said George pointedly.

"He might be looking for a different answer," grunted Moody as he remember the last two chapters. "Since Ollivander wasn't able to answer why Malfoy's wand broke against Potter's."

"…that makes sense, yeah." agreed Bill while the rest nodded.

**Harry was not wearing his glasses; Ron's face appeared slightly blurred.**

**"Who's Gregorovitch?"**

**"I dunno, do I? You were the one saying it."**

**"It wasn't exactly my dream," Harry said.**

**Harry rubbed his forehead, thinking. He had a vague idea he had heard the name before, but he could not think where.**

**"I think Voldemort's looking for him."**

**"Poor bloke," said Ron fervently.**

"Ah, so true." Fred shook his head.

**Harry sat up, still rubbing his scar, now wide awake. He tried to remember exactly what he had seen in the dream, but all that came back was a mountainous horizon and the outline of the little village cradled in a deep valley.**

**"I think he's abroad."**

**"Who, Gregorovitch?"**

**"Voldemort. I think he's somewhere abroad, looking for Gregorovitch. It didn't look like anywhere in Britain."**

"That is true, Gregorovitch lives somewhere in Northern Europe." said Dumbledore thoughtfully.

**"You reckon you were seeing into his mind again?"** **Ron sounded worried.**

**"Do me a favor and don't tell Hermione," said Harry. "Although how she expects me to stop seeing stuff in my sleep..."**

"Even with Occlumency, it is rather hard to maintain it," said Kingsley. "It takes up a lot of energy and magic."

"So there's nothing for me and for my other self to keep receiving those visions?" said Harry doubtfully.

"There is and it is Occlumency, very few a capable to mastering the art, as well Legilimency." The dark Auror continued. "What I'm saying is that it is harder to Occlude while sleeping, and the person would feel tired at some point."

"Yeah, it does sound hard." Frowned Harry. "How can I rest if I have to protect myself at the same time?"

**He gazed up at little Pigwidgeon's cage, thinking...Why was the name "Gregorovitch" familiar?**

**"I think," he said slowly, "he's got something to do with Quidditch. There's some connection, but I can't-I can't think what it is."**

"Quidditch?" repeated James. "I don't think it's related to Quidditch at all."

**"Quidditch?" said Ron. "Sure you're not thinking of Gorgovitch?"**

The twins snorted by Ron shot a glare at their direction.

**"Who?"**

**"Dragomir Gorgovitch, Chaser, transferred to the Chudley Cannons for a record fee two years ago. Record holder for most Quaffle drops in a season."**

"That Gorgovitch bloke should stop playing Quidditch altogether," said James, looking aghast. "That's absolutely horrifying!" The other Quidditch fans nodded in agreement.

**"No," said Harry. "I'm definitely not thinking of Gorgovitch."**

**"I try not to either," said Ron. "Well, happy birthday anyway."**

**"Wow - that's right, I forgot! I'm seventeen!"**

Harry groaned. "Congratulations to him. He's seventeen and I'm not."

"You'll be," said Ron as if comforting him. "after seven months." He ducked on time when Harry threw a pillow at his face.

**Harry seized the wand lying beside his camp bed, pointed it at the cluttered desk where he had left his glasses, and said, "Accio Glasses!"**

Both Sirius and Remus let out a laugh while James shot a hard look with his cheeks reddening slightly. "What's so funny?" asked Nathan genuinely.

"Your father did exactly the same thing when he turned seventeen," said Remus, grinning widely while Sirius sniggered. "And it's not a good idea. I suggest you don't do that." He advised Harry across the room.

"I'll keep that in mind," said Harry with mock-salute.

**Although they were only around a foot away, there was something immensely satisfying about seeing them zoom toward him, at least until they poked him in the eye.**

Almost everyone inside the room laughed at this. Even Tonks was giggling. "I wasn't thinking straight when I did that!" protested James, huffing while crossing his arms.

"That's not smooth, Dad." laughed Harry. "Right, I won't do that."

**"Slick," snorted Ron.**

**Reveling in the removal of his Trace, Harry sent Ron's possessions flying around the room, causing Pigwidgeon to wake up and flutter excitedly around his cage. Harry also tried tying the laces of his trainers by magic (the resultant knot took several minutes to untie by hand) and, purely for the pleasure of it, turned the orange robes on Ron's Chudley Cannons posters bright blue.**

**"I'd do your fly by hand, though," Ron advised Harry, sniggering when Harry immediately checked it. **

"Good one, Ron." snickered Ron along with the other Weasleys boys and Sirius.

**"Here's your present. Unwrap it up here, it's not for my mother's eyes."**

Nearly everyone, except for Moody, looked mildly interested. Molly, on the other hand, narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "I'm sure it's nothing, dear." Said Arthur in placating tones but he was also curious.

**"A book?" said Harry as he took the rectangular parcel. "Bit of a departure from tradition, isn't it?"**

"That's…strange." mused Hermione, glancing at Ron who shrugged, having no idea what the book was all about.

The twins and rest of the Weasley boys shared a look. _You don't think…?_

**"This isn't your average book," said Ron. "It'd pure gold: Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches. Explains everything you need to know about girls. **

The room fell silent before the women inside the room began laughing and giggling. "Oh dear Circe! And I thought it's the latest issue of Playwizard magazine!" snickered Tonks. "I'd never thought it's _that!_"

"What's so funny about that book?" asked James to his wife.

"Well, it's just…it's that kind of book." giggled Lily. "The most basic idea is to be polite to us. That's pretty much it." The rest of the women inside nodded.

"Of course, only idiots need that kind of book," added Ginny.

"Hey! That's uncalled for!" protested George before realising that he practically admitted that he was one of the 'idiots' who read the book. He flushed and said hastily, "Keep reading, Tonks!"

**If only I'd had this last year I'd have known exactly how to get rid of Lavender**

"He dated Lavender?" said Hermione, her voice rising slightly.

"Bloody hell," whistled Ron. He did think that Lavender was pretty but not beautiful as Hermione. "What made him go to her?"

**"That is one of the few mysteries that we will never find out about your counterpart," said Harry wisely.**

**and I would've known how to get going with... Well, Fred and George gave me a copy,**

"And I'm guessing it's been passed down by Percy, at least, then from Charlie-bear, and from you Billy," drawled Tonks, looking at the Weasley boys.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Nymphie." said Charlie with a smirk and the female Auror scowled.

**and I've learned a lot. You'd be surprised, it's not all about wandwork, either."**

**When they arrived in the kitchen they found a pile of presents waiting on the table. Bill and Monsieur Delacour were finishing their breakfasts, while Mrs. Weasley stood chatting to them over the frying pan.**

**"Arthur told me to wish you a happy seventeenth, Harry," said Mrs. Weasley, beaming at him. "He had to leave early for work, but he'll be back for dinner. That's our present on top."**

Both Arthur and Molly smiled. They felt happy that their counterparts treated Harry as their own son. Lily and James, however, felt happy as well but sad all the same as they knew their other selves were no longer living with the other Harry.

**Harry sat down, took the square parcel she had indicated, and unwrapped it. Inside was a watch very like the one Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had given Ron for his seventeenth; it was gold, with stars circling around the race instead of hands.**

Lily felt her eyes tearing up. James smiled painfully after hearing this. But, they were happy that the Weasleys were there for Harry.

**"It's traditional to give a wizard a watch when he comes of age," said Mrs. Weasley, watching him anxiously from beside the cooker. "I'm afraid that one isn't new like Ron's, it was actually my brother Fabian's**

Molly let out a soft "Oh…" and her eyes were now glimmering with their tears forming. "That's so…" She said softly.

"I know," murmured Arthur. He could that his Molly and the other one would never give away one of her brother's possessions that were very dear to her and it was proven that the Harry was definitely a part of the Weasley family.

**and he wasn't terribly careful with his possessions, it's a bit dented on the back, but-"**

**The rest of her speech was lost; Harry had got up and hugged her. He tried to put a lot of unsaid things into the hug and perhaps she understood them,**

"She did," smiled Harry who thought his counterpart deserved every bit of happiness.

** because she patted his cheek clumsily when he released her, then waved her wand in a slightly random way, causing half a pack of bacon to flop out of the frying pan onto the floor.**

**"Happy birthday, Harry!" said Hermione, hurrying into the kitchen and adding her own present to the top of the pile. "It's not much, but I hope you like it. What did you get him?" she added to Ron, who seemed not to hear her.**

Some of the Weasleys snorted at this while Hermione raised an eyebrow at Ron.

**"Come on, then, open Hermione's!" said Ron.**

**She had bought him a new Sneakoscope. **

"Quite useful," nodded Moody.

**The other packages contained an enchanted razor from Bill and Fleur ("Ah yes, zis will give you ze smoothest shave you will ever 'ave," Monsieur Delacour assured him, "but you must tell it clearly what you want...ozzerwise you might find you 'ave a leetle less hair zan you would like..."), chocolates from the Delacours, and an enormous box of the latest Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes merchandise from Fred and George.**

"Wait, what?" said Fred loudly.

"Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes?" repeated George with his eyes opening. Then he and Fred looked at each other, as if talking telepathically. "They got it! I can't believe it! They got it!" Then the two were clapping each other's back when they embraced, happy for their other selves and were feeling more hopeful that theirs would turn into reality as well.

"What's that all about?" asked Tonks in curiosity.

The twins stopped and said with a grin. "It's the name of our dream shop -" began Fred.

"- a joke shop, to be more specific -" added George.

"- because we felt that working at the Ministry isn't our true calling," finished his twin. "Sorry Dad."

Arthur smiled. "None taken, son." He then gave a look to Molly who didn't seem happy to hear that her twin sons were still not giving up on that dream that she thought was silly. "We should let them do what they want. What makes them happy." He said quietly.

"It sounded to us that they finally got theirs much earlier than we do," said George. "And it just gave us more hope that we can reach that as well in the future."

"Hopefully after this war is over." nodded Fred.

"What are your products? Have you already a couple that you're planning on selling?" said Sirius, looking interested.

"So far, we made over seven items, one with different varieties." answered Fred.

"Right then, you can tell me those inventions you made after this chapter, all right?" he said, sending them a small wink. He was very much interested in what the twins made, but he also thought that they were talented as well and it was worth helping them out.

Both twins were grinning. "We'll take your word for it."

**Harry, Ron, and Hermione did not linger at the table, as the arrival of Madame Delacour, Fleur, and Gabrielle made the kitchen uncomfortably crowded.**

**"I'll pack these for you," Hermione said brightly, taking Harry's presents out of his arms as the three of them headed back upstairs. "I'm nearly done, I'm just waiting for the rest of your underpants to come out of the wash, Ron-"**

**Ron's splutter was interrupted by the opening of a door on the first-floor landing.**

**"Harry, will you come in here a moment?"**

**It was Ginny. **

Ginny grimaced while Harry raised an eyebrow. The Weasleys boys shared a dark look with one another, knowing all too well what would happen next. Tonks sighed, figuring out what would entail on this coming scene.

"Can we skip this?" said Bill hopefully. He didn't want to hear anything between the other Ginny and Harry.

Tonks thought for a moment and said, "Maybe when I reached that point."

"That's better than nothing," said Charlie fervently.

"Makes sense to skip all of the unnecessary paragraphs," grunted Moody who wasn't in the mood to hear silly teenager problems and love scenes.

**Ron came to an abrupt halt, but Hermione took him by the elbow and tugged him on up the stairs. Feeling nervous, Harry followed Ginny into her room.**

The Weasley boys groaned at this and Ginny bent down and covered her face with a pillow she was holding. "This can't be happening," said Ginny mournfully.

"You'll survive, I'm sure." said Harry lightly.

"Shut it Potter, or I'll hex you." She replied stiffly.

**He had never been inside it before. It was small, but bright. There was a large poster of the Wizarding band the Weird Sisters on one wall, and a picture of Gwenog Jones, Captain of the all-witch Quidditch team the Holyhead Harpies, on the other. A desk stood facing the open window, which looked out over the orchard where he and Ginny had once played a two-a-side Quidditch with Ron and Hermione, and which now housed a large, pearly white marquee. The golden flag on top was level with Ginny's window.**

**Ginny looked up into Harry's face, took a deep breath, and said, "Happy seventeenth." **

**"Yeah...thanks."**

"Awkward," sang Sirius and Remus threw a pillow at his face to keep him quiet. "You're mean, Moony!"

Remus ignored him.

**She was looking at him steadily; he however, found it difficult to look back at her; it was like gazing into a brilliant light.**

**"Nice view," he said feebly, pointing toward with window.**

**She ignored this. He could not blame her.**

**"I couldn't think what to get you," she said.**

"Oh no, not even that." swore Ginny as she sat up straight. She'd never do that to Harry except to that other person she had in mind even before they started the reading.

"What of it?" Harry turned to look at her, expecting for an answer.

"Don't even act like you don't know -" she snapped but her cheeks turned red, including her ears.

**"You didn't have to get me anything."**

**She disregarded this too.**

**"I didn't know what would be useful. Nothing too big, because you wouldn't be able to take it with you."**

**He chanced a glance at her. She was not tearful; that was one of the many wonderful things about Ginny, she was rarely weepy. He had sometimes thought that having six brothers must have toughened her up.**

Harry mused at this. _I'd agree with my counterpart. I don't like weepy girls._

**She took a step closer to him.**

**"So then I thought, I'd like you to have something to remember me by, you know, if you meet some veela when you're off doing whatever you're doing."**

"Can we skip it now?" begged Charlie.

"I'd like to reiterate that we have innocent minds to protect," piped up Fred, gesturing himself and George.

"And we have a minor here!" said Ron hastily, pointing at Nathan who was looking nearly at everyone with a clueless expression. "Come on, spare us the torture!"

**"I think dating opportunities are going to be pretty thin on the ground, to be honest."**

"Smooth," snickered Sirius.

Tonks scanned the next paragraph and announced, "All right, I'll skip this one paragraph they began -"

"Don't even say it!" said Ginny, her voice rising.

"Do you really not like me, Gin?" pouted Harry as he faced her.

"Most likely tolerate you," she huffed. "And don't pout at me. You don't look good doing that."

"You are really hard to please," he sighed dramatically. "Anyway, keep reading Tonks."

**The door banged open behind them and they jumped apart.**

**"Oh," said Ron pointedly. "Sorry."**

The Weasley boys sighed in relief. "Good timing, other Ron." Muttered Bill while the others agreed. Tonks and the other women, minus Ginny, rolled their eyes.

**"Ron!" Hermione was just behind him, slight out of breath. There was a strained silence, then Ginny had said in a flat little voice,"Well, happy birthday anyway, Harry."**

**Ron's ears were scarlet; Hermione looked nervous. Harry wanted to slam the door in their faces,**

"I feel the same way when I see you two sucking the life out of each other," said Harry lowly while smirking toward Ron and Hermione.

Ron was about to throw a pillow but Hermione got Harry first by punching him on the arm.

"Ow! What did you do that for?" protested Harry, rubbing the part where Hermione hit him. "That hurts -"

"It's supposed to be," snorted Hermione.

"Is there something that we should know about the topic you three are talking?" Fred's voice drifted to their direction.

"Nothing," the Golden trio chorused.

**but it felt as though a cold draft had entered the room when the door opened, and his shining moment had popped like a soap bubble. All the reasons for ending his relationship with Ginny, for staying well away from her, seemed to have slunk inside the room with Ron, and all happy forgetfulness was gone.**

**He looked at Ginny, wanting to say something, though he hardly knew what, but she had turned her back on him. He thought that she might have succumbed, for once, to tears.**

**He could not do anything to comfort her in front of Ron.**

"Poor boy," said McGongall who was a softie for those scenarios, even if she didn't look like it.

**"I'll see you later," he said, and followed the other two out of the bedroom.**

**Ron marched downstairs, though the still-crowded kitchen and into the yard, and Harry kept pace with him all the way, Hermione trotting along behind them looking scared.**

**Once he reached the seclusion of the freshly mown lawn, Ron rounded on Harry.** **"You ditched her. What are you doing now, messing her around?"**

**"I'm not messing her around," said Harry, as Hermione caught up with them.**

**"Ron-"**

**But Ron held up a hand to silence her.**

**"She was really cut up when you ended it-"**

"Ah so he's the one who initiated the break-up -" mused Tonks.

"- obviously for noble reasons," said Sirius while shaking his head. "Keep on reading."

**"So was I. You know why I stopped it, and it wasn't because I wanted to."**

**"Yeah, but you go snogging her now and she's just going to get her hopes up again-"**

"And as her brother, he felt the need to protect her from getting hurt again." Sighed Ginny. She knew that (she could tell that in any normal family, wizarding or not, that brothers would always be overprotective of their sisters no matter what.), but at the same time she could sort of sympathise that she wouldn't want to be protected most of the time and that she, and her counterpart, knew exactly of the consequences of being someone as famous or infamous as Harry Potter. But she was thinking of that person again and sighed softly.

_I'm rather a hopeless cause, falling for those types of guys,_ she thought idly. _My other self falls for the Saviour of the Wizarding World and I…_shaking her head, she focused her attention on Tonks' words.

**"She's not an idiot, she knows it can't happen, she's not expecting us to-to end up married, or-"As he said it, a vivid picture formed in Harry's mind of Ginny in a white dress, marrying a tall, faceless, and unpleasant stranger.**

The corner of Lily's lips twitched upward slightly. "He already set his eyes on her," remarked James, thinking that the Harry from the other world reminded him too much of himself when it came to love.

**In one spiraling moment it seemed to hit him: Her future was free and unencumbered, whereas his...he could see nothing but Voldemort ahead.**

"Don't be too pessimistic," frowned Harry as if talking to his other self personally. "If I'm going to get a future after this war, then he would too."

**"If you keep groping her every chance you get-"**

**"It won't happen again," said Harry harshly. The day was cloudless, but he felt as though the sun had gone in. "Okay?"**

**Ron looked half resentful, half sheepish; he rocked backward and forward on his feet for a moment, then said, "Right then, well, that's...yeah."**

"That was rather awkward," remarked Sirius.

**Ginny did not seek another one-to-one meeting with Harry for the rest of the day, nor by any look or gesture did she show that they had shared more than polite conversation in her room. Nevertheless, Charlie's arrival came as a relief to Harry. It provided a distraction, watching Mrs. Weasley force Charlie into a chair, raise her wand threateningly, and announce that he was about to get a proper haircut.**

Charlie pitied his counterpart. "I feel sorry for him already."

Molly coughed. "That reminds me, your hair's too long -"

The second Weasley son scooted far away from his mother as much as possible. "It's my hair! No cutting!"

Moody barked at Tonks, "Ignore them. Just read."

**As Harry's birthday dinner would have stretched the Burrow's kitchen to breaking point even before the arrival of Charlie, Lupin, Tonks, and Hagrid, several tables were placed end to end in the garden. Fred and George bewitched a number of purple lanterns all emblazoned with a large number 17, to hang in midair over the guests. Thanks to Mrs. Weasley's ministrations, George's wound was neat and clean, but Harry was not yet used to the dark hole in the side of his head, despite the twins' many jokes about it.**

**Hermione made purple and gold streamers erupt from the end of her wand and drape themselves artistically over the trees and bushes.**

**"Nice," said Ron, as with one final flourish of her wand, Hermione turned the leaves on the crabapple tree to gold. "You've really got an eye for that sort of thing."**

Ron couldn't help but snigger at this while Hermione looked highly amused. Harry was trying his best not to laugh at the words.

**Sirius and Remus shared a glance and turned to James who pointedly ignored them. It reminded them too much of how James used to woo Lily back in their Hogwarts days. Lily smiled and held her husband's hand. **

"Thank you, Ron!" said Hermione, looking both pleased and a little confused.

"She's thinking why he's acting like that," chuckled Hermione softly. She would be too if Ron began acting like that for no particular reason.

**Harry turned away, smiling to himself. He had a funny notion that he would find a chapter on compliments when he found time to peruse his copy of Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches; he caught Ginny's eye and grinned at her before remembering his promise to Ron and hurriedly striking up a conversation with Monsieur Delacour.**

**"Out of the way, out of the way!" sang Mrs. Weasley, coming through the gate with what appeared to be a giant, beach-ball-sized Snitch floating in front of her. Seconds later Harry realized that it was his birthday cake, which Mrs. Weasley was suspending with her wand, rather than risk carrying it over the uneven ground. **

**When the cake had finally landed in the middle of the table, Harry said,** **"That looks amazing, Mrs. Weasley."**

**"Oh, it's nothing, dear," she said fondly. Over her shoulder, Ron gave Harry the thumbs-up and mouthed, _Good one._**

Nearly everyone laughed at that. "He's so polite," smiled Molly.

"I'm glad that despite what happened to him, he turned out to be a gentleman," said Lily proudly, feeling that her other self would be more than proud that her son was like that.

"Hey I'm a gentleman too -" said Harry to them.

"Yeah right," laughed Ron. "Do I have to tell everyone that time when -" no sound came out from his mouth as Harry hastily took out his wand and Silenced him. Ron glared at him and gave him a rude hand gesture when Molly wasn't looking at them.

**By seven o'clock all the guests had arrived, led into the house by Fred and George, who had waited for them at the end of the lane.**

**Hagrid had honored the occasion by wearing his best, and horrible, hairy brown suit. Although Lupin smiled as he shook Harry's hand, Harry thought he looked rather unhappy. It was all very odd; Tonks, beside him, looked simply radiant.**

Both James and Sirius shared a look, their minds forming numerous reasons for the other Remus' behaviour. Remus, on the other hand, was beginning to make sense of what his counterpart was going through and grimaced.

Lily looked worried. "Did something happen?"

**"Happy birthday, Harry," she said, hugging him tightly.**

**"Seventeen, eh!" said Hagrid as he accepted a bucket-sized glass of wine from Fred. "Six years ter the day since we met, Harry, d'yeh remember it?"**

**"Vaguely," said Harry, grinning up at him. "Didn't you smash down the front door, give Dudley a pig's tail, and tell me I was a wizard?"**

Some of the occupants laughed after hearing this. "That's a sight to see!" said Sirius.

**"I forge' the details," Hagrid chortled. "All righ', Ron, Hermione?"**

**"We're fine," said Hermione. "How are you?"**

**"Ar, not bad. Bin busy, we got some newborn unicorns. I'll show yeh when yeh get back-"**

"He'll be sad when he realizes that they won't be coming back," said Ginny with a sigh.

**Harry avoided Ron's and Hermione's gazes as Hagrid rummaged in his pocket. "Here. Harry - couldn't think what ter get teh, but then I remembered this." He pulled out a small, slightly furry drawstring pouch with a long string, evidently intended to be worn around the neck. "Mokeskin. Hide anythin' in there an' no one but the owner can get it out. They're rare, them."**

"That's a great gift!" said Tonks. "I want those too -"

"Yeah, but they're pretty rare and since they are rare, the price is usually expensive," said Sirius pointedly.

"I believe it's best to ask Hagrid where to get those," suggested Remus.

**"Hagrid, thanks!"**

**"'S'nothin'," said Hagrid with a wave of a dustbin-lid-sized hand. "An' there's Charlie! Always liked him - hey! Charlie!"**

**Charlie approached, running his hand slightly ruefully over his new, brutally short haircut.**

Charlie let out a small moan. "You've been defeated. I feel for you." Molly rolled her eyes at her son's comment.

**He was shorter than Ron, thickset, with a number of burns and scratches up his muscley arms.**

**"Hi, Hagrid, how's it going?"**

**"Bin meanin' ter write fer ages. How's Norbert doin'?"**

"Who's Norbert?" asked Nathan in wonder.

"Norbert?" Charlie laughed. "The Norwegian Ridgeback? We call her Norberta now."

"Norbert's a dragon? Oh wait, it's a girl. How can you tell that a dragon is male or female?" asked Nathan to Charlie.

"Female dragons are more ferocious and dangerous than male dragons," he answered simply to the youngest Potter child. "I mean, all fe -" he stopped abruptly as he saw the women giving him a look so he said hastily, "Never mind. I'll keep myself quiet."

**"Wha - Norbert's a girl?"**

**"Oh yeah," said Charlie.**

**"How can you tell?" asked Hermione.**

**"They're a lot more vicious," said Charlie. He looked over his shoulder and dropped his voice. "Wish Dad would hurry up and get here. Mum's getting edgy."**

**They all looked over at Mrs. Weasley. She was trying to talk to Madame Delacour while glancing repeatedly at the gate.**

**"I think we'd better start without Arthur," she called to the garden at large after a moment or two. "He must have been held up at - oh!"**

**They all saw it at the same time: a streak of light that came flying across the yard and onto the table, where it resolved itself into a bright silver weasel, which stood on its hind legs and spoke with Mr. Weasley's voice.**

**"Minister of Magic coming with me."**

**Nearly everyone sat up straight. "Why's Scrimgeour coming?" said James with a frown.**

"Probably something important," grunted Moody. "One thing, for certain, is Alastor's last will." His words tensed the others and some of them began to talk amongst themselves.

"Yes, you have a point Alastor." Agreed Dumbledore thoughtfully.

**"But if the Ministry's holding your will sir, then"**

**The Patronus dissolved into thin air, leaving Fleur's family peering in astonishment at the place where it had vanished.**

**"We shouldn't be here," said Lupin at once. "Harry - I'm sorry - I'll explain some other time-"**

"Why is he leaving?" asked Hermione.

"Because -" said Remus with a grim smile. "Because werewolves like me are under scrutiny and it won't bode well if they see us with others. It'll cause uproar -"

"That is stupid," scowled Harry. "They – and even us – can vouch that you, Remus Lupin, are one of the most trustworthy persons we can ever rely on in this time of need! They can all screw themselves for all we care!" The others nodded in agreement.

"Hear, hear!" chanted the twins.

"It doesn't matter what they think, what matters to us is you're here with us through thick and thin." said James firmly. "You're family, remember that."

"And besides, it's just a furry little problem. Moony loves us," grinned Sirius, referring to Remus's transformation.

Remus couldn't help but smile weakly at them. "Thank you," he said softly.

**He seized Tonks's wrist and pulled her away; they reached the fence, climbed over it, and vanished from sight. Mrs. Weasley looked bewildered.**

**"The Minister - but why-? I don't understand-"**

**But there was no time to discuss the matter; a second later, Mr. Weasley had appeared out of thin air at the gate, accompanied by Rufus Scrimgeour, instantly recognizable by his mane of grizzled hair.**

**The two newcomers marched across the yard toward the garden and the lantern-lit table, where everybody sat in silence, watching them draw closer. As Scrimgeour came within range of the lantern light. Harry saw that he looked much older than the last time that had met, scraggy and grim.**

**"War does that to everyone," said Kingsley deeply, noting those who engaged in the first Wizarding war.**

**"Sorry to intrude," said Scrimgeour, as he limped to a halt before the table. "Especially as I can see that I am gate-crashing a party."** **His eyes lingered for a moment on the giant Snitch cake.** **"Many happy returns."**

**"Thanks," said Harry.**

**"I require a private word with you," Scrimgeour went on. "Also with Mr. Ronald Weasley and Miss Hermione Granger."**

"The three of them?" said Bill.

**"Us?" said Ron, sounding surprised. "Why us?"**

**"I shall tell you that when we are somewhere more private," said Scrimgeour. "Is there such a place?' he demanded of Mr. Weasley.**

**"Yes, of course," said Mr. Weasley, who looked nervous. "The, er, sitting room, why don't you use that?"**

**"You can lead the way," Scrimgeour said to Ron. "There will be no need for you to accompany us, Arthur."**

Molly seemed offended by the words that the other Scrimgeour said. "He has no right to order anyone around, even if he is the Minister!" she said while her eyes flashed. She felt angry for her counterpart that she and her family were being ordered what to do inside their home.

Arthur put an arm around her shoulder to ease her.

**Harry saw Mr. Weasley exchange a worried look with Mrs. Weasley as he, Ron, and Hermione stood up. As they led the way back to the house in silence, Harry knew that the other two were thinking the same as he was; Scrimgeour must, somehow, had learned that the three of them were planning to drop out of Hogwarts.**

"Not exactly," said Kingsley in mild amusement.

**Scrimgeour did not speak as they all passed through the messed kitchen and into the Burrow's sitting room. Although the garden had been full of soft golden evening light, it was already dark in here; Harry flicked his wand at the oil lamps as he entered and they illuminated the shabby but cozy room. Scrimgeour sat himself in the sagging armchair that Mr. Weasley normally occupied, leaving Harry, Ron, and Hermione to squeeze side by side onto the sofa. Once they had done so, Scrimgeour spoke.**

**"I have some questions for the three of you, and I think it will be best if we do it individually. If you two" - he pointed at Harry and Hermione - "can wait upstairs, I will start with Ronald."**

Harry rolled his eyes. "Like that will ever happened."

"He can't separate them, and neither will us." grinned Ron while Hermione nodded.

**"We're not going anywhere," said Harry, while Hermione nodded vigorously. "You can speak to us together, or not at all."**

**Scrimgeour gave Harry a cold, appraising look. Harry had the impression that the Minister was wondering whether it was worthwhile opening hostilities this early.** **"Very well then, together," he said, shrugging. He cleared his throat. "I am here, as I'm sure you know, because of Albus Dumbledore's will."**

**Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at one another.**

**"A surprise, apparently! You were not aware then that Dumbledore had left you anything?"**

**"If they know about it, they would've gone straight to the Ministry and asked for it." snorted Sirius.**

**"Yes, all of -"**

**But Harry interrupted.**

**"Dumbledore died over a month ago. Why has it taken this long to give us what he left us?"**

**Hermione nodded. "They have no justifiable reason to keep Professor Dumbledore's will far too long."**

"Unless they would use the Decree of Justifiable Confiscation," said Tonks knowledgeably.

"But isn't that law created to make sure that no Dark Wizard could pass on any dark artefact to anyone?" said Bill shrewdly. "They can't possibly think that the headmaster's holding dark items!"

"Then Scrimgeour's looking for a way to know what objects the other Dumbledore wanted to pass on." Said Moody pointedly, his magical eye spinning madly.

**"What for?" frowned Harry.**

**"Isn't it obvious?" said Hermione, before Scrimgeour could answer. "They wanted to examine whatever he's left us. You had no right to do that!" she said, and her voice trembled slightly.**

**"I had every right," said Scrimgeour dismissively. "The Decree for Justifiable Confiscation**

"Told you so," sang Tonks before reading on.

**gives the Ministry the power the confiscate the contents of a will-"**

**"That law was created to stop wizards passing on Dark artifacts," said Hermione, "and the Ministry is supposed to have powerful evidence that the deceased's possessions are illegal before seizing them! Are you telling me that you thought Dumbledore was trying to pass us something cursed?"**

**"Are you planning to follow a career in Magical Law, Miss Granger?" asked Scrimgeour.**

"I am," smiled Hermione but she wasn't sure what her counterpart wanted to become.

**"No, I'm not," retorted Hermione. "I'm hoping to do some good in the world!"**

**Ron laughed. Scrimgeour's eyes flickered toward him and away again as Harry spoke.**

**"So why have you decided to let us have our things now? Can't think of a pretext to keep them?"**

**"The maximum number of days the Ministry could keep and examine the deceased's will and objects to pass on are only thirty-one days." answered Kingsley deeply.**

**"No, it'll be because thirty-one days are up," said Hermione at once. "They can't keep the objects longer than that unless they can prove they're dangerous. Right?"**

**"Would you say you were close to Dumbledore, Ronald?" asked Scrimgeour, ignoring Hermione. Ron looked startled.**

**"Me? Not - not really... It was always Harry who..."**

**"Don't give any kind of information away," advised Remus to the Golden Trio. **

"We'll keep that in mind," saluted Ron.

**Ron looked around at Harry and Hermione, to see Hermione giving him a stop-talking-now! sort of look, but the damage was done; Scrimgeour looked as though he had heard exactly what he had expected, and wanted, to hear. He swooped like a bird of prey upon Ron's answer.**

**"If you were not very close to Dumbledore, how do you account for the fact that he remembered you in his will? He made exceptionally few personal bequests. The vast majority of his possessions - his private library, his magical instruments, and other personal effects - were left to Hogwarts. Why do you think you were singled out?"**

"Why do you think your other self left something for Ron?" asked James to Dumbledore.

The headmaster looked thoughtful and said, "I am sure all of us would think that he is Mr. Potter's closest friends," he nodded in assent toward Harry, Ron and Hermione, "and that certainly is one part of the reason. The other reason I believe, if my guess is correct, is that Mr. Weasley is very loyal to his friends and family. While we have to admit that loyalty can be wavered, what matters most is that the individual wishes to be back to where they truly belong no matter what regardless of the mistakes they have made."

The others nodded, understanding somewhat of what Dumbledore was trying to explain. "True friendship is not just about sticking together, it's also about forgiveness and acceptance of one's mistake." said Sirius, smiling toward James, Lily and Remus.

**"I...dunno," said Ron. "I...when I say we weren't close...I mean, I think he liked me..."**

**"You're being modest, Ron," said Hermione. "Dumbledore was very fond of you."**

"I also do believe that," agreed Dumbledore although he was certain that the other Ron and Dumbledore barely spoke with one another privately. _Most probably distant admiration,_ he thought to himself.

**This was stretching the truth to breaking point; as far as Harry knew, Ron and Dumbledore had never been alone together,**

"Probably that may be true but there is that small possibility that the two of them had talked, it's just that none of them spoke about it." said Remus thoughtfully.

**and direct contact between them had been negligible. However, Scrimgeour did not seem to be listening. He put his hand inside his cloak and drew out a drawstring pouch much larger than the one Hagrid had given Harry. From it, he removed a scroll of parchment which he unrolled and read aloud.**

**"'The Last Will and Testament of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore'... Yes, here we are... 'To Ronald Bilius Weasley, I leave my Deluminator, in the hope that he will remember me when he uses it.'"**

"What's a de-deloominathur?" asked Nathan curiously as he had trouble pronouncing the word.

Dumbledore chuckled. "It is a Deluminator." He pulled out a silver cigarette lighter and showed it to everyone.

"What can it do?" said Ron, looking at the object.

"It will be explained here," said Tonks to him. "Just let me continue."

**Scrimgeour took from the bag an object that Harry had seen before: It looked something like a silver cigarette lighter, but it had, he knew, the power to suck all light from a place, and restore it, with a simple click.**

"That's brilliant!" Murmurs of agreement spread across the room and the others such as McGonagall and Moody who already knew of the invention, knew how great it was.

"I don't think there are or were being sold in any shop," mulled over James.

"Did you invent it yourself?" asked Hermione genuinely.

"Yes, I made sometime around thirty-five years ago," answered the headmaster, earning awed looks from the others.

"Could you think all of the pranks we'd done?" whispered Fred to George, mischief written all over his face.

**Scrimgeour leaned forward and passed the Deluminator to Ron, who took it and turned it over in the fingers looking stunned.**

**"That is a valuable object," said Scrimgeour, watching Ron. "It may even be unique. Certainly it is of Dumbledore's own design. Why would he have left you and item so rare?"**

**Ron shook his head, looking bewildered.**

**"Dumbledore must have taught thousands of students," Scrimgeour persevered. "Yet the only ones he remembered in his will are you three. Why is that? To what use did he think you would put to the Deluminator, Mr. Weasley?"**

"It's not something that he would know," said Bill, frowning at the other Scrimgeour's interrogation.

**"Put out lights, I s'pose," mumbled Ron. "What else could I do with it?"**

**A thought flickered inside Lily's mind and made her gasp a bit. "What's the matter, love?" asked James concernedly.**

**"It's nothing, but I just thought that…maybe the other Dumbledore made some modifications to the Deluminator before he…he passed away." She told him.**

"That makes sense," agreed James.

**Evidently Scrimgeour had no suggestions. After squinting at Ron for a moment or two, he turned back to Dumbledore's will.**

**"'To Miss Hermione Jean Granger, I leave my copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, in the hope that she will find it entertaining and instructive.'"**

"The Tales of Beedle the Bard?" repeated Hermione.

"Of all of the objects that he could've given away, he'd give away a children's book?" said Sirius confusedly.

"I'm sure there's a particular reason why Dumbledore chose to give it to her." said Remus reasonably.

Dumbledore had a forlorn expression, knowing exactly what his other self had done. He could certainly tell that the Deathly Hallows would play a huge part of defeating Voldemort. He was sure that it wouldn't work in their world believing that Voldemort would not take any notice of myths that would not contribute his cause of wreaking havoc.

**Scrimgeour now pulled out of the bag a small book that looked as ancient as the copy of Secrets of the Darkest Art upstairs. Its binding was stained and peeling in places. Hermione took it from Scrimgeour without a word. She held the book in her lap and gazed at it. Harry saw that the title was in runes; he had never learned to read them. As he looked, a tear splashed onto the embossed symbols.**

**"Why do you think Dumbledore left you that book, Miss Granger?" asked Scrimgeour.**

**"He... he knew I liked books," said Hermione in a thick voice, mopping her eyes with her sleeve.**

**"But why that particular book?"**

**"I don't know. He must have thought I'd enjoy it."**

**"Did you ever discuss codes, or any means of passing secret messages, with Dumbledore?"**

"I doubt there are hidden codes in a children's book," said Molly.

The Aurors, on the other hand, had speculative looks on their faces. "There must be something hidden message in that particular book," murmured Kingsley as he remembered the stories inside the book.

"But what of it?" said Tonks with a frown.

"We'd know if you keep reading," barked Moody.

**"No, I didn't," said Hermione, still wiping her eyes on her sleeve. "And if the Ministry hasn't found any hidden codes in this book in thirty-one days, I doubt that I will."**

**She suppressed a sob. They were wedged together so tightly that Ron had difficulty extracting his arm to put it around Hermione's shoulders. Scrimgeour turned back to the will.**

**"'To Harry James Potter,'" he read, and Harry's insides contracted with a sudden excitement, "'I leave the Snitch he caught in his first Quidditch match at Hogwarts, as a reminder of the rewards of perseverance and skill.'"**

"A snitch?" repeated James, sitting up straight, as did the other Quidditch. "Why would – right!" he blurted out, realizing what it was. "Flesh memories!"

"What Dad?" asked Harry, looking at him curiously.

"I'm sure it'll be explained, but if it doesn't, I'll tell you." he said offhandedly as he motioned Tonks to continue.

**As Scrimgeour pulled out the tiny, walnut-sized golden ball, its silver wings fluttered rather feebly, and Harry could not help feeling a definite sense of anticlimax.**

**"Why did Dumbledore leave you this Snitch?" asked Scrimgeour.**

**"No idea," said Harry. "For the reasons you just read out, I suppose... to remind me what you can get if you... persevere and whatever it was."**

**"You think this a mere symbolic keepsake, then?"**

**"I suppose so," said Harry. "What else could it be?"**

**"I'm asking the questions," said Scrimgeour, shifting his chair a little closer to the sofa. Dusk was really falling outside now; the marquee beyond the windows towered ghostly white over the hedge.**

**"I notice that your birthday cake is in the shape of a Snitch," Scrimgeour said to Harry. "Why is that?"**

**Hermione laughed derisively.**

**"Oh, it can't be a reference to the fact Harry's a great Seeker, that's way too obvious," she said. "There must be a secret message from Dumbledore hidden in the icing!"**

"Nice sarcasm she's showing," said Ginny amusedly.

"I think Scrimgeour deserve it with his rude questioning." Remarked Hermione.

**"I don't think there's anything hidden in the icing," said Scrimgeour, "but a Snitch would be a very good hiding place for a small object. You know why, I'm sure?"**

**Harry shrugged****.**** Hermione, however, answered: Harry thought that answering questions correctly was such a deeply ingrained habit she could not suppress the urge.**

**"Because Snitches have flesh memories," she said.**

"Snitches have flesh memories?" inquired Nathan to his parents.

"Yes, they do." smiled James.

**"What?" said Harry and Ron together; both considered Hermione's Quidditch knowledge negligible.**

**"Correct," said Scrimgeour. "A Snitch is not touched by bare skin before it is released, not even by the maker, who wears gloves. It carries an enchantment by which it can identify the first human to lay hands upon it, in case of a disputed capture. This Snitch" - he held up the tiny golden ball - "will remember your touch, Potter.** **It occurs to me that Dumbledore, who had prodigious magical skill, whatever his other faults, might have enchanted this Snitch so that it will open only for you."**

"Very astute," nodded Dumbledore.

"So there must something that the other Dumbledore hid inside the snitch that the other Harry caught?" said Charlie for confirmation. "It must be pretty small, then."

"But it could be really important to help them win their war," said Tonks.

"The question that we should be asking is what is hidden inside that snitch? Can we even find it here?" said Remus seriously.

"I think we all know how to get that answer, right?" sighed Sirius.

**Harry's heart was beating rather fast. He was sure that Scrimgeour was right. How could he avoid taking the Snitch with his bare hand in front of the Minister?**

**"You don't say anything," said Scrimgeour. "Perhaps you already know what the Snitch contains?"**

**"No," said Harry, still wondering how he could appear to touch the Snitch without really doing so. If only he knew Legilimency, really knew it, and could read Hermione's mind; he could practically hear her brain whizzing beside him.**

**"Take it," said Scrimgeour quietly.**

**Harry met the Minister's yellow eyes and knew he had no option but to obey. He held out his hand, and Scrimgeour leaned forward again and place the Snitch, slowly and deliberately, into Harry's palm.**

**Nothing happened.**

Harry snorted. "That was dramatic."

**As Harry's fingers closed around the Snitch, its tired wings fluttered and were still. Scrimgeour, Ron, and Hermione continued to gaze avidly at the now partially concealed ball, as if still hoping it might transform in some way.**

**"That was dramatic," said Harry coolly. Both Ron and Hermione laughed.**

Harry blinked. "Your other self think alike." laughed Ron.

**"That's all, then, is it?" asked Hermione, making to raise herself off the sofa.**

**"Not quite," said Scrimgeour, who looked bad tempered now. **

**"Dumbledore left you a second bequest, Potter."**

**Everyone looked at one another, thinking what the last object would be.**

**"What is it?" asked Harry, excitement rekindling.**

**Scrimgeour did not bother to read from the will this time.**

**"The sword of Godric Gryffindor," he said. **

"W-what?" spluttered Sirius as he stood up.

"The sword of Gryffindor?" gasped McGonagall who decided to speak once more. "But no one's been able to find it for hundreds of years!"

"How the bloody -" shouted Bill and Molly scolded him 'William Weasley!', "- hell they managed to find it?"

Then nearly everyone turned to Dumbledore, expecting him to answer. "From what I gathered, the sword would only present itself to any worthy Gryffindor and in that reality, I believe that the other Mr. Potter managed to get hold on the sword." he began.

"But how?" questioned George. "Will it just appear right in front of anyone what it thinks is worthy of it?"

Dumbledore gave them a genial smile. "According the records dated shortly after Hogwarts was built, Godric Gryffindor casted a spell onto the Sorting Hat -"

"What?" some of the occupant said in confusion.

"That only a worthy Gryffindor would be able to summon it from its depths," finished Dumbledore.

Hermione and Harry shared a look and a thought went across their minds that they chuckled. "What's so funny?" asked Ron quizzically.

"Well, in the Muggle world, Muggle magicians – you know, those who do all of impossible acts in the form of illusions – do this common trick and it's pulling a rabbit from the hat. Harry and I just thought it was funny."

"Why would they pull a rabbit from a hat?" frowned Charlie in confusion. "It doesn't makes sense."

"Why would Godric Gryffindor bewitched the Sorting Hat as a way to get the Sword?" counted the bushy-haired Gryffindor.

"True," he conceded.

"So, we have to try on the Sorting Hat to get the sword?" asked Harry to Dumbledore.

"Yes, I believe so." responded the headmaster. "But it is not explained why the sword is given to Mr. Potter."

"Do you not have any idea of your counterpart's reason for it?" asked James hopefully.

"I'm sorry but I have yet to figure out the reason." Said Dumbledore somberly.

**Hermione and Ron both stiffened. Harry looked around for a sign of the ruby-encrusted hilt, but Scrimgeour did not pull the sword from the leather pouch, which in any case looked much too small to contain it.**

**"So where is it?" Harry asked suspiciously.**

**"Unfortunately," said Scrimgeour, "that sword was not Dumbledore's to give away. The sword of Godric Gryffindor is an important historical artifact, and as such, belongs-"**

**"But it's written in Dumbledore's will to be given to Harry!" protested Hermione. "They can't keep it away from them!"**

**"Calm down," said Ron to her. "I'm sure they'll be able to figure out how to get it themselves."**

**"It belongs to Harry!" said Hermione hotly. "It chose him, he was the one who found it, it came to him out of the Sorting Hat-"**

"Not exactly," grimaced James after hearing Dumbledore's explanation regarding the history of the rare artefact.

**"According to reliable historical sources, the sword may present itself to any worthy Gryffindor," said Scrimgeour. **

**"That does not make it the exclusive property of Mr. Potter, whatever Dumbledore may have decided." Scrimgeour scratched his badly shaven cheek, scrutinizing Harry. "Why do you think-?"**

**"-Dumbledore wanted to give me the sword?" said Harry, struggling to keep his temper. "Maybe he thought it would look nice on my wall."**

"Nice try, but it won't work on him." said Harry lightly.

"Of course you'd know that. You always talk back at Snape in that manner," said Ginny pointedly.

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that." He huffed.

**"This is not a joke, Potter!" growled Scrimgeour. "Was it because Dumbledore believed that only the sword of Godric Gryffindor could defeat the Heir of Slytherin? Did he wish to give you that sword, Potter, because he believed, as do many, that you are the one destined to destroy He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?"**

"He is very perceptive," said Remus in dawn realization. "he got that right, even if he is at odds with Harry."

"That's why he's the Head Auror," commented Tonks.

**"Interesting theory," said Harry. "Has anyone ever tried sticking a sword in Voldemort? Maybe the Ministry should put some people onto that, instead of wasting their time stripping down Deluminators or covering up breakouts from Azkaban. So this is what you've been doing, Minister, shut up in your office, trying to break open a Snitch? People are dying – I was nearly one of them – Voldemort chased me across three countries, he killed Mad-Eye Moody, but there's no word about any of that from the Ministry, has there? And you still expect us to cooperate with you!"**

"Well said," said James, feeling proud of the other reality's son.

**"You go too far!" shouted Scrimgeour, standing up: Harry jumped to his feet too. Scrimgeour limped toward Harry and jabbed him hard in the chest with the point of his wand; It singed a hole in Harry's T-shirt like a lit cigarette.**

Nearly everyone in the room reacted angrily at the description in the book.

**"Oi!" said Ron, jumping up and raising his own wand, but Harry said,** **"No! D'you want to give him an excuse to arrest us?"**

"He's good," whistled Bill, impressed with the other Harry's control while under pressure.

"It's obvious he's going to be an excellent Auror," grinned Tonks while Moody grunted in approval.

Harry, on the other hand, was beginning to feel something strange within himself. He wasn't sure to pinpoint exactly what he was feeling so he shook it off and concentrated on listening.

**"Remembered you're not at school, have you?" said Scrimgeour breathing hard into Harry's face. "Remembered that I am not Dumbledore, who forgave your insolence and insubordination? You may wear that scar like a crown, Potter, but it is not up to a seventeen-year-old boy to tell me how to do my job! It's time you learned some respect!"**

"Respect must be earned," said McGongall quietly, but her eyes flashed. The others who head her agreed silently.

**"It's time you earned it." said Harry.**

Everyone inside the room felt proud of the other Harry standing firm on his beliefs and decision.

**The floor trembled; there was a sound of running footsteps, then the door to the sitting room burst open and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley ran in.**

**"We - we thought we heard -" began Mr. Weasley, looking thoroughly alarmed at the sight of Harry and the Minister virtually nose to nose.**

**"—raised voices," panted Mrs. Weasley.**

**Scrimgeour took a couple of steps back from Harry, glancing at the hole he had made in Harry's T-shirt. He seemed to regret his loss of temper.**

**"It – it was nothing," he growled. "I … regret your attitude," he said, looking Harry full in the face once more. **

"I think it's the other way around," growled James, feeling overprotective of the alternate Harry.

**"You seem to think that the Ministry does not desire what you – what Dumbledore – desired. We ought to work together."**

**"I don't like your methods, Minister," said Harry. "Remember?"**

**For the second time, he raised his right fist and displayed to Scrimgeour the scar that still showed white on the back of it, spelling _I must not tell lies_.**

Tonks was shocked as she read the lines and the rest were confused how the other Harry got it. "He has that on his hand?" gasped Lily. "James, d'you think -?"

"There's possibly one way to get those but I don't think anyone is that insane to do that to anyone, especially to a minor," said James, his voice shaking in controlled anger. "What do you think, Dumbledore?"

Dumbledore was no longer smiling. "I do know what you're thinking and yes, it is illegal to use it -"

"What are you talking about?" interrupted Harry.

"It seems that…that your counterpart went through a punishment that would cost the person who came up with that sick idea to land a spot in Azkaban," said Remus calmly although his eyes showed otherwise. "The person, possibly much worse at giving detentions than Snape and anyone in Hogwarts combined, just made the other Harry use a Blood Quill to write lines more than we can imagine."

The colour of the rest of the occupant's faces were drained almost immediately, especially Harry. "But that's horrible!" cried Ginny.

"Blood Quills are only used for signing contracts like in Gringotts," said Bill seriously. "Using it only once is painful. But repeatedly?"

"Whoever that person is, we'll make sure that he or she is one of our list to watch out," growled Sirius.

**Scrimgeour's expression hardened. He turned away without another word and limped from the room. Mrs. Weasley hurried after him; Harry heard her stop at the back door. After a minute or so she called, "He's gone!"**

**"What did he want?" Mr. Weasley asked, looking around at Harry, Ron, and Hermione as Mrs. Weasley came hurrying back to them.**

**"To give us what Dumbledore left us," said Harry. "They've only just released the content of his will."**

**Outside in the garden, over the dinner tables, the three objects Scrimgeour had given them were passed from hand to hand. Everyone exclaimed over the Deluminator and The Tales of Beedle the Bard and lamented the fact that Scrimgeour had refused to pass on the sword, but none of them could offer any suggestion as to why Dumbledore would have left Harry an old Snitch. As Mr. Weasley examined the Deluminator for the third of fourth time, Mrs. Weasley said tentatively, "Harry, dear, everyone's awfully hungry we didn't like to start without you… Shall I serve dinner now?"**

"Food is important," said Ron dutifully, trying to lighten up the atmosphere inside the room but Hermione elbowed him to keep quiet.

**They all ate rather hurriedly and then after a hasty chorus of "Happy Birthday" and much gulping of cake, the party broke up. Hagrid, who was invited to the wedding the following day, but was far too bulky to sleep in the overstretched Burrow, left to set up a tent for himself in a neighboring field.**

**"Meet us upstairs," Harry whispered to Hermione, while they helped Mrs. Weasley restore the garden to its normal state. "After everyone's gone to bed."**

"That's good," said Moody with a short nod. "It's best to be ahead all the time."

"Oh we all know, Maddy," said Tonks airily. "Constant Vigilance." And she read on.

**Up in the attic room, Ron examined his Deluminator, and Harry filled Hagrid's mokeskin purse, not with gold, but with those items he most prized, apparently worthless though some of them were the Marauder's Map,** **the shard of Sirius's enchanted mirror, and R.A.B.'s locket. **

"Maybe not useful for the journey but it is still valuable." Said James firmly, referring to the Marauder's Map.

He pulled the string tight and slipped the purse around his neck, then sat holding the old Snitch and watching its wings flutter feebly. At last, Hermione tapped on the door and tiptoed inside.

"Muffiato," she whispered, waving her wand in the direction of the stairs.

"What's that spell?" said Fred and George curiously.

"It's like the Silencing Charm but it blocks anyone from hearing the caster's conversation with another," said Remus as if being a professor.

"Yeah, the person under the spell would only hear faint buzzing sounds, so it's pretty useful." Added Sirius.

"That's neat!" said George in awe.

"But I haven't read that spell in all of the books I've read," said Hermione with a small frown.

"That's because it's not approved by the Ministry," said James. "Someone created it. We only read it in an old Potions book back when we were at Hogwarts. I'm surprised that the others," gesturing the Golden Trio in the book, "know about it. They must've found the book."

"So you have no idea who made the spell? He -" said Ron.

"- or she," interrupted Hermione.

Ron shook his head at her and continued, "- must be a genius."

"It'll be pretty useful in our raids," said Kingsley. "Especially to you Tonks."

"Why?" asked Tonks to the dark-skinned Auror.

"Because it'll cover up the noise you're making whenever you tripped," he answered with a small smirk.

"You're mean, King!" protested Tonks as she smacked him on the arm as hard as she could muster but she couldn't help but agree with him deep inside.

Watching their interaction just by sitting right beside them, Remus found himself frowning at the sight with the thought of having to pull Tonks away from Kingsley. Shocked by what he was thinking, he unintentionally scooted away and looked elsewhere while shaking his head. This caught the attention of Sirius, James and Lily, and even Tonks herself.

"Are you all right?" asked the pink-haired Auror in concern.

"I'm – I'm fine," he said distractedly. "Just please continue reading."

**"Thought you didn't approve of that spell?" said Ron.**

**"Times change," said Hermione. "Now, show us that Deluminator."**

**Ron obliged at once. Holding ****it**** up in front of him, he clicked it. The solitary lamp they had lit went out at once.**

**"The thing is," whispered Hermione through the dark, "we could have achieved that with Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder."**

**There was a small click, and the ball of light from the lamp flew back to the ceiling and illuminated them all once more.**

**"Still, it's cool," said Ron, a little defensively. **

The young adults and minors nodded in agreement.

**"And from what they said, Dumbledore invented it himself!"**

**"I know but, surely he wouldn't have singled you out in his will just to help us turn out the lights!"**

**"D'you think he knew the Ministry would confiscate his will and examine everything he'd left us?" asked Harry.**

**"Definitely," said Hermione. "He couldn't tell us in the will why he was leaving us these things, but that will doesn't explain…"**

"Because it's bound that someone would be able to read it and the other Dumbledore wasn't that dumb to leave it in the open," snorted Moody. "I wouldn't write off my reasons for giving away my belongings in my will."

**"… why he couldn't have given us a hint when he was alive?" asked Ron.**

**"Well, exactly," said Hermione, now flicking through The Tales of Beedle the Bard. "If these things are important enough to pass on right under the nose of the Ministry, you'd think he'd have left us know why… unless he thought it was obvious?"**

**"Thought wrong, then, didn't he?" said Ron. "I always said he was mental. Brilliant and everything, but cracked. Leaving Harry an old Snitch – what the hell was that about?"**

**"I've no idea," said Hermione. "When Scrimgeour made you take it, Harry, I was so sure that something was going to happen!"**

**"Yeah, well," said Harry, his pulse quickened as he raised the Snitch in his fingers. "I wasn't going to try too hard in front of Scrimgeour was I?"**

**"What do you mean?" asked Hermione.**

**"The Snitch I caught in my first ever Quidditch match?" said Harry. "Don't you remember?"**

**Hermione looked simply bemused. Ron, however, gasped, pointing frantically from Harry to the Snitch and back again until he found his voice.**

**Tonks scanned the next line and snorted. Earning curious looks, she continued.**

**"That was the one you nearly swallowed!"**

"What? He nearly swallowed one?" gaped Harry.

"I was beginning to wonder how the bloody hell he managed to imprint the snitch," said Sirius while shaking his head.

**"Exactly," said Harry, and with his heart beating fast, he pressed his mouth to the Snitch.**

**It did not open. Frustration and bitter disappointment welled up inside him: He lowered the golden sphere, but then Hermione cried out.**

**"Writing! There's writing on it, quick, look!" He nearly dropped the Snitch in surprise and excitement. Hermione was quite right. Engraved upon the smooth golden surface, where seconds before there had been nothing, were five words written in the thin, slanted handwriting that Harry recognized as Dumbledore's**

**_I open at the close._**

"What's that supposed to mean?" frowned James.

"I think…I think it means that the snitch could only be opened at the end of something significant," said Hermione slowly as she tried to figure out the message.

Dumbledore and the rest of the adults were impressed with her deduction. He was also figuring out the encrypted message there were two scenarios that cropped up, one being the bad and the other one good. But he wouldn't share this thoughts at the moment until it was time.

"That's a good way to look at it," agreed Harry thoughtfully.

"The question is, when will that significant thing happen?" pointed out Ron. "It may take ages!"

"I'm sure it'll be mentioned in the later chapters," said Lily softly. "It's best if we continue."

**He had barely read them when the words vanished again.**

**"I open at the close…." What's that supposed to mean?"**

**Hermione and Ron shook their heads, looking blank.**

**"I open at the close… at the close… I open at the close…"**

**But no matter how often they repeated the words, with many different inflections, they were unable to wring any more meaning from them.**

**"And the sword," said Ron finally, when they had at last abandoned their attempts to divine meaning in the Snitch's inscription.**

**"Why did he want Harry to have the sword?"**

**"And why couldn't he just have told me?" Harry said quietly. "I was there, it was right there on the wall of his office during all our talks last year! If he wanted me to have it, why didn't he just give it to me then?"**

"Maybe he thought it wasn't the right time to give it to him?" suggested Ginny, glancing over to Dumbledore.

"Why would he have to make it hard for him?" frowned Harry.

The young redhead girl simply shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe it's some sort of trial for him to go through before he could earn it?"

When Harry couldn't say anything in response, Tonks continued to read to finish the chapter.

**He felt as though he were sitting in an examination with a question he ought to have been able to answer in front of him, his brain slow and unresponsive. Was there something he had missed in the long talks with Dumbledore last year? Ought he to know what it all meant? Had Dumbledore expected him to understand?**

**"And as for this book." Said Hermione, "The Tales of Beedle the Bard … I've never even heard of them!"**

"Only because it's a children's story book in the wizarding world," huffed Hermione, having read of the book two years ago when she visited the Burrow during the Christmas holidays.

**"You've never heard of The Tales of Beedle the Bard?" said Ron incredulously. "You're kidding, right?"**

**"No, I'm not," said Hermione in surprise. "Do you know them then?"**

**"Well, of course I do!"**

**Harry looked up, diverted. The circumstance of Ron having read a book that Hermione had not was unprecedented. **

Ron rolled his eyes while the rest snickered. "Same here for ickle Ronniekinns," smirked Fred.

"Shove it, you git." He said in reply.

**Ron, however, looked bemused by their surprise.**

**"Oh come on! All the old kids' stories are supposed to be Beedle's aren't they? 'The Fountain of Fair Fortune' … 'The Wizard and the Hopping Pot'… 'Babbitty Rabbitty and her Cackling Stump'…"**

**"Excuse me?" said Hermione giggling. "What was the last one?"**

"I like that story!" said Nathan with a grin.

**"Come off it!" said Ron, looking in disbelief from Harry to Hermione. "You must've heard of Babbitty Rabbitty –"**

**"Ron, you know full well Harry and I were brought up by Muggles!" said Hermione. "We didn't hear stories like that when we were little, we heard 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarves' and 'Cinderella' –"**

"That last bit sounded like a disease," mused Bill. Hermione and Lily shook their heads.

**"What's that, an illness?" asked Ron.**

**Some of the occupants snickered.**

**"So these are children's stories?" asked Hermione, bending against over the runes.**

"What? Runes? You mean the other Dumbledore gave her the original Tales of the Beedle the Bard?" said Lily as she sat up straight. "Do you have one?" she asked the headmaster, her voice filled with eager. James couldn't help but be amused of her wife's love for peculiar and rare books. She was a bit like Hermione but he knew that she wasn't as book-loving, just had the appreciation of certain books that piqued her interest.

"Yes, I do have the original," smiled Dumbledore serenely. "I've managed to purchase it around 1947. And yes, you may have it."

"Really?" said Lily in surprise. "Is it all right with you?"

"I daresay I believe you will immensely enjoy it," he said with a twinkle in his eye. _And I believe it is overdue that I should let go of everything that reminded me of the Hallows._

"But, do you think it'll be helpful for us in the war effort?" questioned Remus who was also interested in the book.

After a moment, Dumbledore said, "There may be a small possibility that it will play a huge role with our war."

"Why not?" asked Harry curiously.

"The circumstances are widely different between the two realities," said the headmaster simply. "But I may be wrong. We should let Nymphadora finish reading the chapter."

Tonks scowled. "Please don't call me that!" huffing, she read on.

**"Yeah." Said Ron uncertainly. "I mean, just what you hear, you know, that all these old stories came from Beedle. I dunno what they're like in the original versions."**

**"But I wonder why Dumbledore thought I should read them?"**

**Something cracked downstairs.**

**"Probably just Charlie, now Mum's asleep, sneaking off to regrow his hair," said Ron nervously.**

"He should be, long hair is better on me." said Charlie under his breath.

**"All the same, we should get to bed," whispered Hermione. "It wouldn't do to oversleep tomorrow."**

**"No," agreed Ron. "A brutal triple murder by the bridegroom's mother might put a bit of damper on the wedding. I'll get the light."**

**And he clicked the Deluminator once more as Hermione left the room.**

"And that's the end of the chapter, everyone." announced Tonks.

Suddenly a small burst of fire appeared in the middle of the room, alerting everyone with nearly everyone whipping up their wands in reaction. A red feather floated down aimlessly and Dumbledore raised his hand to catch it. "Who is it from?" asked Remus, glancing at the feather.

"It is from Severus," answered Dumbledore. "He has returned." He stood up and gave a small bow. "I should meet with him. You may continue reading without me."

"I'll escort you out -" said Sirius, not forgetting his manners.

"There is no need," smiled the headmaster. "Do enjoy reading." And he was gone.

"Right, who wants to read the next chapter?" asked Tonks.

"I will," said Lily, eager to know what would happen next. After accepting the book from the female Auror, she flipped the next page and her eyes widened slightly before a small smile graced on her lips. "The following chapter is **_The Wedding._**"

The girls inside the room let out soft "ohhs" while the men shook their heads except for Bill who really wished it was really happening to him and Fleur in this reality. "This might be an interesting chapter," shrugged Sirius.

"But it would be for Bill," said George, gesturing toward the eldest Weasley son.

"Oh right, you haven't got much luck on your belle -" teased Fred.

"I can curse you right now if you finish that sentence," said Bill while raising an eyebrow. "And besides, I will have to find a way to her heart, I'm telling you."

"We'll expect you on that." said Charlie while shaking his head.

* * *

**_I do apologise for keeping you wait! So here's it is!_**

**_And I'm surprised that I posted this under the same month as my last chapter but anyway I do hope you enjoyed this. Apparently, as I continue making the chapters, the more I realized how much difference this AU I'm creating from the canon-verse. No diary, no foreknowledge about the Horcrux, the Deathly Hallows have a small chance in playing a huge role in their war, Kreacher missing, and among others. I have a lot to tackle when this reading it over._**

**_I'm screwed. But it's a challenge, don't you think? It'll be really interesting to see how they would handle the war on their own using a different approach, right? Right, the next chapter will be more or less interesting for me, I think but I hope I'll get to pass it by. _**

**_Reviews would be a huge boost but I don't want to force you!_**

**_EDIT:  
_****_By the way, AU!Ginny in this story isn't the type who go for famous or infamous people. It's purely coincidental that she fell for "who's that person" who also happens to be, well not famous like Harry Potter, but well-known in Wizarding Britain. She did mention she prefers the likes of Sirius Black._**

**_Also, I do not generally believe that anyone would be able to remember something that is passed down by hand for generations like the Invisibility Cloak. I mean, it's been passed down from father to son or daughter for maybe a hundreds of years that the truth would be barely there. Also, when it was passed down to James Potter, it would be like "this has been passed down since our great ancestors, the Peverells" and the bit about the Deathly Hallows would be long gone. I mean, why would Canon!James agree to let Dumbledore look at it if it were that precious?_**


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